June 16-30, 2009 3

Speech of Sh L.K. Advani..... 5Sh. Arun Jaitley........................ 11

ArticlesTriumph of the moderate

By Arun Jaitley................. 22

Stand Up, Be CountedBy K Subrahmanyam........ 26

States ReportsKarnataka................................... 21

Madhya Pradesh............... 25 & 30

Uttrakhand................................. 29

Chhattisgarh............................... 29

Himachal Pradesh...................... 29

Delhi............................................. 30

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The unwavering firmness by which man controls through the Yogaof mediation the functions of the mind, the vital airs and the senses-that firmness, Arjuna, is Sattvika.

Bhagavadgita, Ch. 18, Text 33

Imbibing the KaryakartaImbibing the KaryakartaImbibing the KaryakartaImbibing the KaryakartaImbibing the Karyakartaspirit not easyspirit not easyspirit not easyspirit not easyspirit not easy

“Karyakarta”, a book written by renowned thinker and proponent ofIndian thoughts Mananiya Dattopant Thengdi should be read by all thosewho share the responsibility of leading the organization. In Indian politicseveryone in the party should first consider oneself a karyakarta. It is noteasy to imbibe the sense of being a karyakarta. It is attained by divinepleasure. The people who have been guiding the course of higher echelonsin Indian politics are neither related to the activities nor with theprogrammes, policies or principles of the party. A person, no doubt, comescloser to ideology by coming closer to individuals. Therefore those whowork for the organization and are the organizers always give priority tothe work of linking valuable and dynamic individuals to the party. In theprocess sometime some mistake creep in selection but it doesn’t mean thatwe should not take up the work of expanding the organization or stop it.Making a karyakarta is one of the foremost and essential element in anorganization and yet the most difficult one also.

When we work for the organization we are supposed to reach out toevery section of the society. We will have to understand them. We willalso make them understand. It takes time to ‘understand’. It is not thateasy to imbibe the sense of understanding. And then everyone is not giftedwith the understanding to ‘understand’. The work of organization is nota one-day or five-day test match of cricket. It is a constant, continuousprocess. But those who lead the organization should always try to abideby the standards set by the organization. Our leadership has alwaysadvised us to keep the organization free from obsession with or influenceof any individual.

The main reason for unassailability and immortality of BJP is that itsleaders lead the life as a symbol of its ideology in society and not inindividuality. BJP has emerged for India – for the Indians. It has emergedfor the safety and survival of nationalism. BJP is not dependent on mercyof an individual or dynasty but whatever it possesses is due to the sympathy

June 16-30, 2009 4

and help extended to it by thepeople rooted in the soil of thecountry. Only those who are notkaryakartas get perturbed byvictory or loss in the elections. Thosewho are karyakartas speak only thefollowing lines:

“Mujhe haar jit se kya padi,Meri jang thi mai lada tha”

A karyakarta never getsexcited in victory nor gets shatteredin defeat. The mantra of his life issimple – “Chairevati, Chairevati”.Yes, analysis should always be done.There should be dialogue. Everyaspect should be discussed but onlyin the forums meant for it. This iswhat a karyakarta feels. But thesedays it seems that things havechanged. Those claimants of‘intellect’ with half bakedknowledge are more or less gettingentrenched in almost all the politicalparties. They are so artful that theylose not time in skillfully gainingfavours from political leaders. Butthe reality remains that they areneither the karyakartas not thesupporters but after some time theybecome part of the system in such amanner that it becomes difficulteither to keep company with themor to part with them. A popularsaying we have been hearing sinceour childhood:

“Jahan mili Chai,Wahin Badli rai”

There is no dearth of such‘advisors’ in the society. These‘advisors’ are not and can ever be akaryakarta. Even if they feign to betrying, they cannot become one. Itis because it is not easy to live by

being a karyakarta. Karyakartasdiscuss and debate logically. AKaryakarta raises his point insidethe party. Even after all this akaryakarta humbly accepts thepeople’s mandate and commitshimself to follow the decision ofthe party. He never moves back intothe past but steps forward toremove the prefix “para” from theword “parajaya” by working hard inthe attempt to march towardsvictory.

It is the need of the hour todaythat karyakartas prepare forstruggle against problems faced bypeople with a collective spirit anddiscipline so that the society isrelieved of its distress. The top BJPleader Mananiya Atal BihariVajpayee always says that“karyakarta” is such an importantposition from which he can neverbe removed by anyone. Therefore I

pray, he said, to the almighty thatI always remain a karyakarta. Weall are karyakartas and will remainso.

If we keep the spirit of akaryakarta alive in our heartirrespective of the post orresponsibilities that comes in ourway then not only would we besuccessful but we would also movein achieving the objective for whichwe are working in the field ofpolitics. The aim of all of us is thesame – to take Bharat Ma to theepitome of glory.

Karyakartas should alwaysremember these lines from one ofAtalji’s poems:

“Kya haar me, kya jeet meKinchit nahi bhaibhit maiSangharsh path par jo bhi mileYeh bhi sahi, woh bhi sahiVardaan mangunga nahin,

vardan mangunga nahin.”

ISI funding anti-India textbooksAccording to a report published in The Pioneer, notwithstanding

Pakistan Government’s claim that Taliban is its enemy number one and notIndia, the neighbouring country’s notorious spy agency — Inter-ServicesIntelligence (ISI) – has been funding 400 to 500 madrassas in the Swatvalley and supplying textbooks with anti-India and anti-Hindu rhetoric.

The recent introduction of hard-line changes in the textbooks for themadrassas in the regions of Swat valley controlled by the PakistanGovernment emphasizes the supremacy of Islam and denounces Christianityand Hinduism. The ISI is also considering a proposal to Islamacise themadrassas in other regions of that country, intelligence sources said andadded that the ISI is still in sync with the Taliban and offering themsupport even on policy level.

“The changes have been introduced in the textbooks in order tocreate a common pool of fundamentalist fighters for both the theatres ofconcern to Pakistan — Afghanistan and India,” an intelligence officialsaid. The primary objective, sources said, is to supply hardcore and highlymotivated fundamentalist fighters for Taliban and if things fall into places,they can be sent to Jammu and Kashmir to further Pakistan’s jehadidesigns against India.

June 16-30, 2009 5

Madam Speaker,I rise in support of the

motion to give thanks toRespected Rashtrapatiji onher address to Parliament onthe occasion of the beginningof the 15th Lok Sabha.

At the outset, it gives meimmense pleasure to join theentire House in congratulatingyou warmly on yourunanimous election as theSpeaker of the 15th Lok Sabha. Your election has markeda proud milestone in the history of Indian Parliament.To see you in this august office is to see, simultaneously,an important triumph of both Social Justice and GenderJustice — both Social Empowerment and Women’sEmpowerment.

Madame Speaker, I had the honour of working withyour illustrious father, as a fellow parliamentarian in theSixth Lok Sabha (I was a member of the Rajya Sabhathen) and also as a fellow minister in the Janata Party

government. Babu JagjivanRam had built a greatreputation for himself as oneof the ablest administrators.He was a minister in everysingle government at theCentre, beginning with theInterim Government thatPandit Nehru headed soonafter Independence. A learnedman, he endeared himself toone and all in the House,

cutting across party lines.Madame Speaker, what is proved by you or your

father or Dr. Ambedkar, who was the chief architect ofthe Indian Constitution, is that a PERSON BECOMESGREAT BY HIS OR HER KARMA, AND NOT BYJANMA.

THAT ALL HUMAN BEINGS ARE EQUAL ANDTHAT ALL HAVE THE DIVINE POTENTIAL IN THEMTO RISE TO THEIR FULL POTENTIAL.

I am sure that you too will raise the reputation of

Discussion on President’s Address toboth Houses of Parliament

Her Excellency the President of India, Smt. Pratibha Patil, addressed a joint session of both the Housesof Parliament on June 4 after the 15th Lok Sabha was constituted and the new Council of Ministers underPrime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh had taken charge.

In both the Houses, Bharatiya Janata Party, the main Opposition promised to play its role as aconstructive and vigilant organ of democracy. In Lok Sabha, Shri Lal Krishna Advani, made a very forcefulspeech in which he lauded ours as “not only the largest democracy in the world because of numbers, butalso the most vibrant”. He said BJP had “accepted the people’s verdict (in the just concluded electionsto Lok Sabha) with humility”. He made a number of suggestions and demands. He particularly pleadedfor implementation all over the country of Ladli Laxmi Yojana which has been very successful and popularin Madhya Pradesh towards promoting female literacy and education. He particularly pointed out the lackof mention of the Government’s resolve to fight corruption. He also dwelled on India’s problems and threatsemanating from neighbouring countries.

In Rajya Sabha, the newly elected Leader of Opposition, Shri Arun Jaitley, was the main speaker.Shri Advani spoke in Hindi while Shri Jaitley spoke in English. Kamal Sandesh is publishing the

salient points of Shri Advani’s speech while the full text of Shri Jaitley’s speech is being carried.

Lok SabhaIndia the largest, most vibrant democracy

No mention of resolve to fight corruption : Advani

June 16-30, 2009 6

your high office with your erudition, impartiality, andlong parliamentary and governmental experience. I wishto solemnly pledge on this occasion that, in conductingthe House, you can count on the fullest support fromthe Opposition benches — from my party as well as allother parties in the opposition.

This being the first session of the 15th Lok Sabha,I take this occasion to warmly congratulate PrimeMinister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Leader of the HouseShri Pranab Mukherjee, and Congress President andUPA chairperson Smt. Sonia Gandhi. The people havegiven a renewed mandate to the Congress party and theUPA government. It is indeed a bigger mandate than in2004.

I take this opportunity to also congratulate boththe old and new faces in the council of ministers.

No doubt, my party and the NDA are disappointedby the outcome of Elections 2009. But we have acceptedthe people’s verdict with humility. Victory and defeatare a part of the electoral process. And this is not theoccasion or the platform for an analysis of why thepeople preferred one party and one alliance over theother. Each of the parties in the opposition is engagedin its own analysis of the election results. Nevertheless,two broad comments are in order.

Firstly, irrespective of who won and who lost, theirrefutable fact is that the greatest victor is India’sDemocracy. Our country has shown once again to theworld that ours is not only the largest democracy in theworld because of numbers, but also the most vibrant.I remember that on many occasions in the past,especially after Independence, foreigners used towonder if democracy can survive in this country ofsuch immense diversity and so many illiterate people.They also used to be skeptical about the future of Indiaas a united nation.

India has disproved all of them. Thus, the victoryof India’s democracy is our collective victory – thevictory of the party and alliance that won, as well as theparties and alliances that lost.

Secondly, in my comments after the election resultswere known, I commented that the people have giventheir verdict in favour of stability and bipolarity. Inrecent days I have reflected upon the direction in whichIndian politics is headed in the coming years. I will notsay that regional parties and smaller parties have noplace in national politics. Nor will I say, as Dr. ManmohanSingh did during the election campaign, that regionalparties are an obstacle to growth. However, I do believethat the people want more cohesive alliances, in theabsence of which they want to see national parties

become stronger.All of us, especially those in the treasury benches,

should reflect on why the people have shown suchstrong preference for stability. Stability cannot be anend in itself. It is not a mandate for the government tofunction any which way it wants for five years. Rather,the people want the government to be stable so that itcan perform better. So that it can give a better accountof itself on GOOD GOVERNANCE, DEVELOPMENTand SECURITY.

GOOD GOVERNANCE, DEVELOPMENT andSECURITY was the election plank of my party. However,there cannot be any monopoly or copyright on thethree principles of GOOD GOVERNANCE,DEVELOPMENT and SECURITY. People expect everyparty or alliance that is elected to form the governmentto adhere to these principles.

Hence, I wish to assure the Prime Minister and theLeader of the House that my party and the NDA willextend full and constructive support to the governmentwhenever we find that you are protecting the interestsof the nation and advancing the interests of the peopleby adhering to GOOD GOVERNANCE, DEVELOPMENTand SECURITY. But when we find that you are doingotherwise, we shall certainly oppose the governmentboth inside Parliament and outside.

Let the government do its duty. And we shall doour duty. By performing our respective duties, let uspledge today to jointly strengthen India’s democracyand enhance the power and prestige of India’sParliament.

The din and drama of elections is over. Let us putbehind us the acrimony of the election campaign. Thenew Lok Sabha has been constituted. The ministershave taken charge in their respective ministries. Let usbegin a new chapter in government-opposition relationsin the 15th Lok Sabha.

Madame Speaker, I now come to some of thesubstantive aspects of the President’s Address toParliament. Since the President’s Address to Parliamentis prepared and approved by the Cabinet as an accountof what the new government intends to do and how itplans to address the many challenges before the nation,it is the duty of the opposition to look at it meticulously.Release of Hafeez Saeed

I must express my deep disappointment over therather cavalier and non-specific manner in which thegovernment has mentioned the problem of terrorism inparas 9 and 42. The entire nation – indeed, the entireworld – was horrified and outraged by the Pakistan-sponsored terrorist attack on Mumbai on 26 November

June 16-30, 2009 7

2008. The carnage is still fresh in the minds of thepeople. But there is another thing that has horrified,outraged and alarmed the people of India and theinternational community.

And that is the news a few days ago that thegovernment of Pakistan, by presenting a weak casebefore the Lahore high court, has allowed Hafeez Saeed,leader of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa, the hardline politico-religious front of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, and a mastermindof 26/11, to walk out of jail.

Saeed is accused of aiding and abetting the Mumbaiattacks in the chargesheet filed by Mumbai Police. Heis the head of the Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Lashkar-e-Taiba,which were listed by the United Nations under UNSCResolution 1267, as being affiliates of al-Qaida andTaliban. Saeed was specifically listed as linked to theseterrorist groups last year after India provided evidenceabout his involvement in terrorist strikes.

Pakistan government cannot hide behind the pretextthat it is a court decision and hence cannot be interferedwith. The entire world knows how independent thejudiciary is in Pakistan. The media have reported thatthe court released Saeed on “technical” grounds —namely, lack of evidence. The evidence was lackingsince the government of Pakistan simply did not furnishit before the court.

Pakistan cannot fool the world opinion with thiskind skullduggery.

I know that the government has conveyed itsdispleasure to Pakistan. But, frankly, the government’sresponse has been weak. It does not reflect the senseof outrage that the people of India have felt at the gameof deception being played by Pakistan.

During the election campaign, Congress leadersclaimed that the UPA government’s “strong” approachto tackling terrorism was evident in the manner in whichit had dealt with Pakistan after 26/11. The claim was:“Look, we got them to admit that Pakistani nationalswere involved.” It was as if Congress leaders weregiving a certificate of sincerity and earnestness to thegovernment of Pakistan. But look what has happenednow.26/11 : My four demands

Today, through the medium of this debate, I wantto place four demands before the government. Firstly,it should place before this House the full evidence thatthe government of India has shared with the governmentof Pakistan on the involvement of Saeed and hisaccomplices in 26/11 and also in previous terroristattacks in India. The people of India have a right toknow all the facts and all the evidence that have so far

come to light. Besides, by bringing this evidence intothe public domain, India and the international communitycan put further pressure on Pakistan not to derail thetrial of the leaders of the anti-India terrorist organizationsoperating from Pakistan.

But there is another reason why this evidencemust be made public. Ever since 26/11, people in Indiaand elsewhere in the world have been asking onequestion: Was it only the handiwork of some Pak-based terrorist organizations or was there also someinvolvement of the ISI and other official agencies? Thistruth must also come out. For far too long, the rulers inPakistan have been trying to fool the global communityby pretending that terrorists belonging to organizationslike the Lashkar-e-Toiba are independent actors. Thisfalsehood must be nailed.

Renowned Pakistani journalist and author ZahidHusain, in his book FRONTLINE PAKISTAN, haswritten with a lot of well-researched information thatLashkar-e-Toiba’s links with the ISI are unbreakable.

My second demand is that the government shouldplace before the House evidence about Kasab, theonly terrorist linked to 26/11 who was caught alive,and what has come out of his statements during theinvestigation.

My third demand is that the judicial trial of Kasab,which is now underway, should be completed as earlyas possible. People want to see that justice is deliveredand done in this case without the kind of delay thatunfortunately has been witnessed in many terroristcases in India so far.26/11: Need for a Commission of Inquiry

My fourth demand is indeed a reiteration of myearlier demand, made in the session of Parliament heldafter 26/11. It is that the Centre must set up a high-leveljudicial commission to probe all aspects of 26/11, in thesame way that the US government set up a Commissionto inquire 9/11.

My demand stems from the news last week that thegovernment of Maharashtra, which had come in forsharp criticism during the 26/11 attack, has got a cleanchit from the Ram Pradhan committee. The two-membercommittee appointed by the state government forinquiry of lapses during 26/11 has blamed the centralgovernment for intelligence failure.

I am quoting here a news report in The Times ofIndia of 28 May 2009, titled ‘Centre to blame for 26/11lapse: Panel’. It reads: “During his visit to Mumbai afterthe terror attack, Union home minister P C Chidambaramapologized to the citizens of the state, this itself indicatedlapses from the Union government,” said R D Pradhan,

June 16-30, 2009 8

after submitting the 100-page report to chief ministerAshok Chavan.”

Madame Speaker, there are many thingsquestionable about the findings of this committee.Firstly, here was an episode that led to the sacking ofthe state’s chief minister and deputy chief minister,who was also the home minister. And yet, the committeegives a clean chit to the state government.

Secondly, the committee seems to have madeshoddy job of its mandate. Indeed, both the terms ofreference as well as the actual functioning of thecommittee, left a lot to be desired. Let me again quotefrom the Times of India report:

”The probe panel was an administrative committeeand not a judicial panel, hence many issues that aresubjudice were not investigated, Pradhan said andadded, “The panel was approached by many of thenon-official persons, but we decided not to meet anyof these people. The report does not include version ofthe non-officials, but is based on the enquiry conductedof over 50 police officers (ranging from constable tosenior IPS officers).”

”Post attack many people including politiciansfrom the ruling and opposition parties had criticizedthe functioning of the police control room. Howeverafter the probe, the conclusion of the panel wassurprising.”

Another report, in DNA of 28 May 2009, states thatVinita Kamte, wife of slain police officer Ashok Kamtewho was killed during the 26/11 terror attacks, expresseddisappointment over the Ram Pradhan committee reportwhich has given a clean chit to the Mumbai police andgovernment.

According to the report, she wanted to deposebefore the committee but was not allowed to do so. Shehas also alleged that “certain portions of the call recordsof the police control room on November 26 weredeleted”.

This is a serious matter. There is strong suspicionamong the people of Mumbai, Maharashtra and the restof the country that the Pradhan Committee has done a“white wash” job to protect the Congress governmentin the state.

Hence, my fourth demand: The central governmentmust set up a judicial commission to inquire into allaspects of 26/11 — the lapses at the state level as wellas the central level. After all, many senior functionariesin the UPA government — Prime Minister, former HomeMinister (who was asked to resign after 26/11), DefenceMinister and the National Security Advisor — hadspoken about the possibility of terrorists using the sea

route to mount an attack.The truth must come out. Accountability must be

fixed. Moreover, the 26/11 Inquiry Commission, and theimplementation of the measures that it wouldrecommend, would help India minimize possible terroristattacks on India in the future. At any rate, it will helpus to be better prepared.

Mr. Prime Minister, do not think that I am raisingthis demand to score political points. The people ofIndia, who have given your government a second termin spite of a weak record in fighting terrorism, expectthis from you.One Rank One Pension

Madame Speaker, I am happy to note that thePresident’s Address, in Para 12, has talked about theissue of ONE RANK ONE PENSION for ex-servicemen.They have been demanding it for a long time. Theyeven launched a prolonged agitation at Jantar Mantar.I had gone there to show my solidarity with their demand.Over 11,000 ex-Army personnel had returned theirgallantry medals in protest.

The President’s Address, however, does not givea firm commitment that the Government would acceptthis demand. The wording is very vague and cannotsatisfy ex-servicemen.

I demand that the Prime Minister, when he repliesto this debate, give a firm commitment that hisgovernment would implement ONE RANK ONEPENSION within the first 100 days.DEVELOPMENT ISSUESGirls’ education: Why not implement Ladli LaxmiYojana?Madame Speaker, After Security, I’ll turn to someDevelopment-related issues.

I am pleased to know that the RespectedRashtrapati’s Address shows concern about femaleliteracy in the country. It rightly laments in Para 21 that“While male literacy went up to over 75% in the lastcensus and is expected to be higher now, female literacywas only 54% in 2001.”

The Address goes to say: “My Government willrecast the National Literacy Mission as a NationalMission for Female Literacy to make every woman literatein the next five years.”

I welcome this commitment. However, I would havebeen happy if the Address had also said that the CentralGovernment would work closely with, and fully supportthe existing initiatives of, all the State Governments inachieving this mission.

Why do I say this? I say so because, unfortunately,a certain political culture has grown in this country in

June 16-30, 2009 9

which the Centre thinks that it should take the credit foreverything, and if something good is being done by astate government run by an opposition party, it shouldbe ignored.

Take, for example, the Ladli Laxmi Yojana beingimplemented by the BJP government in MadhyaPradesh. Its specific objective is to promote femaleliteracy and education. It provides financial assistanceto the girl child at regular intervals and, when shecompletes 12th standard, the scheme gives her 1,20,000rupees. To the best of my knowledge, it is the only oneof its kind. And it has achieved significant success.

I would like the Prime Minister to adopt this schemefor nationwide implementation. As I said earlier, thereis no copyright of my party for this scheme. After all,the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, which has been mentionedin the President’s Address, was launched by the NDAgovernment. Similarly, there are several good schemeslaunched by the Congress governments in the past.

If the nation is to progress faster, we should discardthe mental habit of trying to score political points in thearea of implementation of development schemes.Full support to Women’s ReservationBill

Madame Speaker, While on the point of women’sall-round development empowerment, let me state thatmy party will fully support the bill on women’sreservation in Parliament and State Legislatures, as andwhen the government brings it forward.

This bill is awaiting passage for a long, long time.I guess that perhaps it was waiting for the 15th Lok

Sabha when a woman would become the Speaker!IT literacy

Madame Speaker, On the issue of literacy, let memake another important point. Today in the 21st century,it is not enough for a person, man or woman, to besimply literate. Every Indian, especially girls and boysbelonging to the new generation, must also become ITLITERATE.

My party, in its IT Vision Document — and I amplacing it on the table of the House — has developeda comprehensive vision of how IT and the Internetcan assist in India’s all-round transformation. Aspecific point in it is about how we can create as many1.2 crore IT-enabled employment opportunities in ruralIndia alone.

I strongly believe that the INTERNET is the thirdgreatest invention of mankind, after the Wheel andElectricity. Its benefits must reach every Indian. Tobegin with, access to the Internet in Indian languages,and Internet-based education at all levels, including

primary and secondary levels, should be our goal to bereached in five years.MULTI-PUPORSE NATIONAL IDENTITYCARD

Another point is about the introduction of aMULTI-PUPORSE NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD. ThePresident’s Address, in Para 13, talks about a “UNIQUEIDENTITY CARD” for each citizen in three years. Iwould urge that it should not only be UNIQUE, but alsoMULTI-PURPOSE.

I do not have to belabour this point. Today acitizen has a voter ID card, ration card, driving license,PAN card, etc. Why can’t we have a single MULTI-PUPORSE NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD?Making India hunger-free: DisturbingUNICEF Report

Madame Speaker, I am sure everyone in this Housewill agree that the focus of all our efforts in developmentshould be ANTYODAYA – development of the LastMan in the queue. This means that the poor, belongingto all communities, should have the first claim on thenation’s budgetary resources.

Whether India’s GDP grows at 7 % 9% is lessimportant than whether the benefits of growth reachthe poorest Indians or not. In this context, I was mostdisturbed by media reports this week that, according toa recent UNICEF report, “the number of hungry in Indiaincreased from 209.5 million in 2004-06 to 230 million byend of 2007-08”

Clearly, both the Central and State governmentshave to redouble their efforts to end abject poverty,especially hunger, in our country.Bringing Indian wealth stashed away inSwiss banks

Madame Speaker, An important issue came upduring the recent election campaign — that of theenormous Indian wealth stashed away in Swiss banksand other tax havens around the world. Estimates vary,but it is generally regarded that the amount is quitesubstantial.

I had myself given a lot of prominence to this issuein my campaign. I must mention here that the JD(U),CPI(M) and other parties also had raised this issue.

The Prime Minister’s initial response wasdismissive. However, the government itself submittedan affidavit in the Supreme Court confirming that it isa non-trivial matter and that it is seized of the matter.The affidavit also mentioned that the IT departmenthad raised a demand of Rs. 78,000 crore against analleged hawala dealer based in Pune.

As the issue gained momentum, even the Prime

June 16-30, 2009 10

Minister stated in his interview to The Times of Indiaon 25 April that he would include the matter of bringingback the black money salted away in tax havens abroadin his 100-day Action Plan.

I am surprised to see that it is not there in the 100-day action plan mentioned in the President’s Address.

The people of India want this money back, becauseit belongs to the nation and must be used for thenation’s development. I would like to know, and theentire country would like to know, from the PrimeMinister what his government is going to do in thismatter.No mention of corruption in theAddress

Madame Speaker, I am pained to see that thegovernment’s future agenda of governance iseloquently silent on the issue of fighting CORRUPTION.Indeed, the word “corruption” does not figure anywherein the President’s Address.

It does not figure even in Para 31, which talksabout “reform of governance for effective delivery ofpublic services”.

How can governance be reformed if the cancer ofcorruption is not even recognized and no political willshown to cure it?

The Congress party and the government are todayin a state of euphoria over their electoral victory. Perhapsthey think that corruption is not an issue at all.

But I would like to advise and warn the PrimeMinister and the leadership of the Congress to look atwhat happened to Rajiv Gandhi’s government. He hadwon over 400 seats in the Lok Sabha for his party in1984. Within two years, the most famous and politicallyexplosive scandal of corruption in India’s history brokeout. It badly enfeebled the government and ultimatelycaused its downfall in 1989.

The entire country knows how the Bofors scandalwas covered up. Some of the brazen cover-up actions,in terms of helping the main accused in the scandal,were taken up by the previous UPA government. Someshocking revelations came even as the election campaignwas underway.

I do not want to go into all that today. The peopleof India know everything.

Let not the victory of the Congress be interpretedin a such a manner as to think that the people havegiven a clean chit to the Congress or that they thinkthat they are going to keep quiet if action is not takenagainst corruption at high and low places.

Above all, all talk of GOOD GOVERNANCEREFORM is meaningless without a resolve to fight

corruption. The Prime Minister’s personal reputation isat stake. He should prove that he is a strong PrimeMinister by taking stringent action to eliminatecorruption in his government.Some foreign policy issues

Madame Speaker, I shall conclude by making a fewremarks on foreign policy matters mentioned in thePresident’s Address.

India’s foreign policy must regain its central focuson our neighbourhood. Recent happenings in ourimmediate neighbourhood are a matter of concern.Sri Lanka

The government of Sri Lanka has finally overcomethe challenge of the LTTE. But the manner in which thecivilian Tamil population was made to suffer is a matterthat has shocked the conscience of the internationalcommunity. India must continue to stand by thedemocratic rights and aspirations of the ethnic Tamilpopulation in Sri Lanka. No durable solution to theethnic issue is possible without recognizing anddelivering justice and dignity to the Tamil people in thecountry.Nepal

There has been a change of government in Nepal.I welcome this development. The Maoists’ anti-Indiacampaign was evident even in the recent developmentsin Nepal.

Let us wish the new Prime Minister, Shri MadhavNepal, and his government success in dealing with thechallenges facing the country. On our part, India mustwork to regain the strength of the traditional ties betweenour two countries.Bangladesh

I am disappointed to see that there is no mentionin the President’s Address of the problem of illegalBangladeshi immigrants in Assam and elsewhere in thecountry. India must take up this issue with Bangladesh.First, the government must do what it has been askedby the Supreme Court to do.China

India should work for normalization of relationswith China. There should be no let-up in these efforts.However, it is of utmost importance to ensure that Indiadoes not convey, even inadvertently, the impression ofbending over backwards to please China.

Some recent reports about further Chineseassistance to Pakistan’s nuclear programme areworrisome. China also continues to rake up theArunachal Pradesh issue.

The people of India expect the government to befirm in these matters.

June 16-30, 2009 11

“Mr. Deputy Chairman, Sir, this isthe first address by the Hon’ble Presidentafter the elections to the new Lok Sabha.Democracy, itself, Sir, is a great leveller,and, elections in a democracy themselvesare a leveller except that they canoccasionally produce harsh results, whichinvolve winners and losers. But,democracy itself, when it produceswinners and losers, confers upon thewinner the great sense of responsibility.

Today morning, when I came to theHouse, I thought that when the speakers from theTreasury Benches initiate the motion, that burden ofresponsibility will confer a sense of modesty andhumility. And I must express the deep sense ofdisappointment that I found it grossly lacking.

However, we, in the opposition, certainly do notintend to be provoked by this attitude of lack of modestyand humility which a winner must inherently havebecause we were told from beginning to the end, wheremost of us, in the opposition, have gone wrong andwhere our conduct and attitude was to be found lacking.Those who are defeated in an election also have aresponsibility in a democracy and that responsibility isto conduct yourself with a certain amount ofgraciousness, have a certain amount of dignity, but, atleast, have a sense of determination and fulfil the rolewhich is conferred on you. And, Sir, that role which isconferred on us, I can assure you, is a role which wewill discharge purely guided by national interest. Thereare going to be several areas where we are going tosupport and even endorse the position of theGovernment. That is what is expected from us. There

are going to be several areas where wehave to caution the Government,particularly when certain pitfalls arevisible. And when we find theGovernment going astray, needless tomention, we are going to fiercely opposethe Government on those occasions.That’s a responsibility which isconferred on us and I can assure you,this House and the country, through thisHouse, that various sections of theopposition in their own way are going to

discharge this responsibility which is also aresponsibility which is conferred on us in a democracy.

Sir, I have no hesitation in admitting after a lot hasbeen said about the election results that for me and myparty the election results were a disappointment. Weaccept that with humility at our command.

But, at the same time, we are conscious of theresponsibility that these election results have conferredon us. Sir, we read some very clear messages emergingout of these election results and some of these messagesthat we can read very clearly are that the electorate ofthis country is conscious of the fact that we live in anera of coalitions and an era of coalitions can alsooccasionally bring disturbances and even roadblocksin the functioning of the Government. Perhaps one ofthe great motivating factors to the Indian voter was agreat desire for political stability. And, therefore, theelectorate, pursued by that desire, gave to the CongressParty over 200 seats. Let them, therefore, be veryconscious of this fact that 206 seats in Parliament arenot akin to 403 seats in Parliament that they got in 1984.And, therefore, the manner in which they have to

Rajya Sabha

Let’s make a new beginningIf Government does, we’ll certainly reciprocate : Arun JaitleySpeaking on the President’s Address to both Houses of Parliament, Shri Arun Jaitley inhis maiden speech as the new Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha on June 5 calledupon both the ruling alliance and the Opposition to perform their respective roles witha sense of responsibility. He assured that BJP will discharge its onerous role “purelyguided by national interest”. “There are going to be several areas, he cautioned, “wherewe are going to support and even endorse the position of the Government. That is whatis expected from us. There are going to be several areas where we have to caution theGovernment, particularly when certain pitfalls are visible.”

June 16-30, 2009 12

conduct themselves must also be conditioned by thisfact. The electorate did want political stability and,therefore, in the last five years, when we found theGovernment lacking on several fronts, it may not beeen as an endorsement by the voter of India of areaswhere the Government was found to be wanting. Thereare several areas. We can have a discussion at anappropriate time over them. But, it was this desire forpolitical stability and when this desire for politicalstability has given them a larger number of seats, theIndian voter is now not going to accept any alibi fornon-performance. In the last five years, it could beblamed on the allies. Today, it’s being sought to beblamed on us. But, once you have afigure which is closer to the half-waymark along with your allies, no alibifor failure is going to be acceptedthis time for which you have got thebenefit of doubt in the last 5 years.At the same time, the Indian votershave shown an immense amount ofmaturity. But even when we werelosing, in a large number of Stateswhere the non-Congress parties haveperformed well, those non-Congressparties, including my own party, ourallies in several States, some otherswho have moved away from us, eithergot an overwhelmingly large numberof seats in those States or in some States, at least, gotan absolute number of seats, and therefore, this is aclear mandate as of the electorate as we understand ittoday. I also do understand that the mandate today isalso a representative of an aspirational India; peoplewant India to grow. But we are cautious of the fact thatwhen they want India to grow, this growth is at twolevels.

It is at a level where there is a segment of ourpopulation which has not been able to benefit from thebenefits of that growth process, and therefore, whenthe President’s Address very enthusiastically mentionsphrases of great achievements which have helped thosesectors, the hard reality is that that sector is still under-privileged. There is also another segment which is anaspirational India where the aspirations are larger, andunderstandably so, and therefore, this mandate alsoreflects on the Government desire and the electoratedesire to really perform as far as these areas areconcerned.

Sir, I had said in the beginning as to what role weintend to play.

In any Westminster system, the conventional roleof the Opposition is to oppose. But in evolving andmaturing democracy, this role has also evolved, andtherefore, as I said, our principal object when we will beguided by national interest is, how to strengthen thecountry. We have to strengthen this country in termsof making its borders secure, we have to strengthenthis country in fighting terror within the country, wehave to strengthen this country in our endeavour tohelp the Government so that it can vanish all forms ofpoverty and sufferings. We have to strengthen thiscountry by even pursuing the goal of social justice.Now, these are several areas of strengthening the

country. One of the principal desiresof an aspirational India is to becomea developed economy by 2020. Now,in each of these endeavours, thereare areas where we will support theGovernment, there are areas wherewe will caution the Government, andthere are certain areas where we willbe required to fiercely oppose theGovernment, and when I read andwhen I heard the hon. President’sAddress, I was a little disappointedon one score. I did expect a mention,an emphatic mention, of the mannerin which racial attacks are beingcarried out against persons of the

Indian origin in Australia. Now, this is something whichis very current and contemporary, and any sensitiveGovernment which says with a sense of pride that wehave million of Indians in our diaspora living abroadand living all over the world, would have been concernedwith the plight of the Indian community which is beingsubjected to such inhuman and racial attacks. I think,it is an oversight as far as the draftsman of the Addressis concerned that this one important area which isextremely current and of great sensitivity to every Indianis missing. But without emphasising that any further, Ithink we must all in this House as in the entire countryresolve to stand behind the Government in its endeavourto pursue this case with the Australian authorities andto make sure that these kinds of inhuman and barbaricattacks on persons of the Indian origin are not repeatedany time in future. Sir, when I said we will support theGovernment on issues, I can draw satisfaction fromcertain areas of the President’s Address.

When I read the Address, I also read my party’smanifesto and I have no hesitation in saying that thereare several areas which are of common national cause

I think we must all inthis House as in the entirecountry resolve to standbehind the Government inits endeavour to pursue thiscase with the Australianauthorities and to make surethat these kinds of inhumanand barbaric attacks onpersons of the Indian originare not repeated any time infuture.

June 16-30, 2009 13

for the entire political community; our roads may bedifferent, but the ultimate destination is really the same,and, therefore, the emphasis which the President’sAddress has given on achieving a high growth and alow inflation, I think, is something on which we willstand solidly behind the Government. The President’sAddress, in terms of the desire of the Government tolegislate the Food Security Act so that the impoverishedpeople in India living below the poverty line can havethe benefit of 25 kilograms of foodgrains at affordableprices, is an inherent path of the Right to Food. And wedo believe that this Right to Food, as a large number ofliberal economists say, is a populist scheme; this freedistribution of rice or cheaper distribution of rice orwheat is a burden on the Exchequer, but in the politicalcommunity, since we are directly concerned with theplight of people who suffer, this is,in fact, far from populism. It is aRight of Food and the benefit ofthe Government resources, theExchequer reaching the weakestman and, therefore, in States whichhave been implementing,particularly Chhattisgarh,—now, Iam told, Orissa has also started it—it has worked every effectively.And if the Government brings this,really implements this Right toFood, I have not the least doubt in saying that we, inthe Opposition, would strongly stand behind theGovernment in implementing this across the country.As for the determination which the Government hasostensibly expressed for having a zero tolerance as farterrorism is concerned, my party had occasionally felt,in the last five years, that the Government was soft onterror, and we were amongst people who wereconsidered as those who really stand by this phrase‘zero tolerance on terror’.

Accusations were hurled at us. I am not going tosay, for a moment, that it is my ideological victory or myparty’s ideological victory that you have beencompelled to use the same language, after 26/11, whichwe have been using, but if the Government, really,effectively implements this zero tolerance towards terror,there is no reason why we will not stand behind theGovernment while this is done. Sir, the ‘one rank-onepension’ issue was raised by us in our manifesto. TheGovernment had said that they would examine it by theend of June, 2009. I would seriously urge theGovernment to not merely examine it but also to concedeto this long-standing demand of the Indian Armed Force.

I think they secure our country and they deserve thebenefit of not being treated in a discriminatory mannerand, therefore, the ‘one rank-one pension’ demand ofthe Armed Forces should be conceded to at the earliest.

The Women’s Reservation Bill has been pendingfor years and years together. In the last five years, wewere disappointed because, repeatedly, we were beingtold that the Women’s Reservation Bill would come,but even the introduction of it had to wait till the veryend of the Government. And, therefore, the seriousnessof this Government in introducing the Women’sReservation Bill and seriously approving and supportingthat Women’s Reservation Bill was itself doubtful. The

Government has said that they intend to do so. Ifthe Government does so, I am sure, as far as the BJP isconcerned and as far as other segments of this House

are concerned, we would stronglystand behind the Government insupporting that Bill in the next 100years and.... Sorry, in 100 days. Iam glad that Mr. Yechury who isalso going to support us and theGovernment on this Bill correctsme. If this Bill is brought andpassed within 100 days, I think,the credibility of Indian politicsitself will go up because we havebeen promising the voters and the

women of India that we will give this reservation, andfor almost a decade this has been pending; it is abouttime that we did it in the next 100 days, Sir.

Sir, there is one issue of caution that I have, onwhich the President’s Address does not state anything.During the earlier tenure of this Government, in the lastfive years, there was a lot of debate as far as the Indo-US nuclear deal was concerned. Some taunting remarkswere made in that context even today. We had repeatedlysaid that we stand for a close cooperation between theUnited States and India. But the nuclear deal shouldnot merely be the touchstone as far as determining thatrelationship is concerned.

There was a genuine apprehension that we hadagreed to some areas where we felt we should not haveagreed. I do not go into that history. But there are goingto be three areas in the days, weeks and months tocome where our own autonomy and independence isgoing to be at test. The three areas are those where ourstand and that of the United States is significantlydifferent. The signing of the NPT is one area; theagricultural negotiations in the WTO is the secondarea; and the capping of the carbon emission norms in

And if the Governmentbrings this, really implementsthis Right to Food, I have notthe least doubt in saying thatwe, in the Opposition, wouldstrongly stand behind theGovernment in implementingthis across the country.

June 16-30, 2009 14

the climate change negotiations which are going on isthe third area. I am sure the Government which hasfollowed a particular course of action, which has beenthe consistent national stand as far as India isconcerned, is conscious as far as the interest of India’sagriculture is concerned and India’s industry isconcerned. The agricultural negotiations have notproceeded significantly in the past five years. Nowthere is a considerable amount of pressure on us toyield. The Indian position in short has been that unlessour agricultural farmer is really a sustenance farmer hecannot compete with the subsidised farming as far asthe United States is concerned, the European Union isconcerned and the other subsidising nations areconcerned. We must bear in mind that as far as theseareas are concerned nowhere in the world foreign policyand trade policy necessarily go together. Europe andUnited States are occasionally raised against each otheras far as trade policy is concerned; though they mayhave the best of political and diplomatic relations witheach other. Because ours is a sustenance farmer, hecannot compete this huge amount of subsidies that thedeveloped countries give, which must come down. TheGovernment of India in the last five years has pursuedthis stand and pursued it vigorously. India is beingblamed by the developed countries for not allowing thedeal to go through. On the contrary, we are being toldthat you reduce your tariffs so that the subsidisedagriculture can come and invade the Indian market.Even if it did not invade the Indian market, it will, atleast, prevent our surplus from going into the globalmarket, compelling our agricultural produce to bedumped in our own market and depress our prices. Sothose subsidies really are a death knell as far as theIndian farmer is concerned. Without any significantreduction in those subsidies, by just concealing theminto the environmental category in the green box, todaythere is an effort to get us to fall in line and sign thatdeal. I wish to caution this Government that this is onearea — the hon. Minister of Commerce, Shri AnandSharma was here just now — where the Governmentwould not yield and stand by what our conventionalIndian position is. The climate change negotiations arecurrently on. There also, the effort is that the developedcountries have already had and tasted the fruits ofdevelopment. They have a huge amount of industrialisedgrowth and therefore, their emissions or what pollutesthe environment is far higher than us. Now the entireeffort is to trade in that pollution and ask the developingor the weaker countries to buy it because our emissionsare reasonably low; or, to cap it in such a manner that

our further industrialisation itself can get capped atcertain stage. If we agree to some of those proposals,it will be capping our growth itself. Therefore, whilemaintaining the best relationship between India and theUnited States, I think these are areas in which theGovernment of India will have to be cautious as towhich course it really has to tread on in the course ofcoming months and years.

Sir, at certain places, when the President’s Addresstalks of Government’s achievements, I can quiteunderstand that a new Government, enthusiastic witha positive mandate, may exaggerate its own pastperformance. At the same time, let us be very clearabout where we stand as far as the state of the nationis concerned. We always refer to the GDP growth rates.I cannot see any significant policy, during 2004-09,which really related to improving upon the GDP growth.In 1991, we started a particular process. The policydecisions, between 1991 and 2004, accelerated thegrowth rate as far as India was concerned, because thegrowth is substantially entrepreneurial. There was aboom in the global market. The going was good, and wealso looked good in the whole process. But the test ofgreat administrator is not that when the going is goodthat you are at your best. What happens when thegood is not so good? And, in the last one-and-a-halfyears when the going was not so good, we virtuallysaw the Government which was paralysed as far as theeconomic decision-making was concerned. Therefore,the Government could have a legitimate alibi to say,“My allies didn’t allow it. My friends didn’t allow meto do so.” But, today, it has lost all those alibis.Therefore, today, it has to really perform as far as itsown performance is concerned. Five years saw a lot ofindecision.

You arespeaking in terms of patting yourself onthe back as far as employment figures are concerned.The 2004 manifesto promised 1 crore new jobs everyyear. Then, we should have had five crore jobs more asof today. We used to hear every year, words called‘Outcomes and Outlays’. This time that is missing. Thisexpression ‘Outcome and Outlays’ is now replaced withPerformance Reports. It is just another name; it is asynonym for Outcome and Outlays. Now, as far as theOutcomes and Outlays of 2004-05 are concerned, asagainst these f ive crores of jobs that you promised inthe last five years, how many have you effectivelyadded? The Commerce Secretary’s statement two daysago stated that the export sector itself had lost 1.5million jobs. The industries are closing down. It is ahard reality. The industrial growth has slumped.

June 16-30, 2009 15

Look at infrastructure. I was just going through theinfrastructure figures of the last five years. Now, thefigure states, relating to the Golden Quadilateral project,which were started and contracts awarded pre-2004, 98-99 per cent completed. Now, when you look at theprogress of the North-South and East-West Corridors,you have a figure of 7300 to be constructed. But only3541 have been constructed. In Phase III, out of thefigure of 12,109, which were to be constructed, whathave been constructed so far are 827. This means thatless than 7 per cent of Phase III of the NationalHighways has been completed. And we pat ourselveson the back and say that infrastructure is doing verywell. The murmurs, which we heard at the stage of theCabinet formation, which is the Prime Minister’sprerogative, that some people are to be kept out becausethey found that they were the road blocks as far asinfrastructure is concerned. The Leftnever told you, “Don’t create anyinfrastructure.” Your own friendswere given the responsibility. Now,when we look at the Railways, wewere told that the Railways was avery populist area in the last fiveyears. In 2008-09, that is, the yearwhich is just over, to attract 1 croreof private investment, an investmentof Rs.25 crores has been tied up.What has been received is not asingle rupee. Twenty-six stationshave been identified for making them world-classstations. They said, “The railway stations will look likeairports.” Not a single railway station has changed norhas any improvement been seen. Even the tenderingstage has not started.

Now, shipping. It was told that new berths formajor ports would be created because the trade load isthrough the berths. So, they planned to create 52 berthsbetween 2006 and 2012.

Three-and-a-half years of that six years’ period isover. So far, contracts have been awarded only for sixberths. This is how infrastructure is moving. Then, wecome to rural roads. The plight, as far as rural roads isconcerned, itself is a matter of great concern. As regardsthe agricultural sector, I saw a phrase, a phrase borrowedfrom the American political phraseology, where thehon. President says, ‘my Government gave a new dealto agriculture.’ President Roosevelt gave a new deal insome other concepts. So, this is a ‘new deal’ toagriculture where a record number of farmers havecommitted suicide in five years. We pat ourselves on

the back that the Indian agriculture has become a utopiansituation. They talk about irrigation, remunerative pricefor the farmer, rural infrastructure, drinking water,electrification, etc., and now we are told that all thesepromises will come. But I am wondering how thesepromises would be implemented. You have to be adecisive Government in order to generate economicactivity so that governmental revenues could go up. Ifthe Government has more money in its pocket, it cancertainly give free ration to the poor, and implement allthe social schemes. But, you are an indecisiveGovernment. So, how are all these promises going to befulfilled at a stage when you have a record highestfiscal deficit as far as India is concerned? In the InterimBudget, the Finance Minister said, it is six per cent.Now, six per cent was considered a figure which hadbeen deliberately depressed. Once the actual figures

come out, the figure will be known.All economists tell us you add theoff-balance sheet items to that sixper cent or the extended figure of sixper cent. You add the fiscal deficit ofthe States. Not one man is going toaccept that it is going to be anywherebelow double figures. It is going tobe well into double figures, muchmore than twelve per cent. And witha twelve per cent odd fiscal deficit,there are only two ways you canfinance it. You become a high-tax

Government, and if you become a high-tax Government,it has an adverse affect on growth again. Or, yougenerate economic activity by being a more decisiveGovernment. Now, I think, this is an option which thepresent Government has and it has to decide whichoption it is really to follow as far as its economicroadmap is concerned.

Talking of the situation in our neighbourhood, Iwas very curious why the Foreign Policy chapter, as faras this speech is concerned, was somewhat inadequate.It was quite extended in the February Address of thePresident. In the February Address of the Government,the Government was patting itself on the back sayingthat as far as Pakistan is concerned, our diplomaticinitiatives have brought Pakistan on track; Pakistan hasnow fallen in line; it is cooperating. There is a lurkingdoubt in India whether the trial of the person whomasterminded the attacks on Mumbai in 26/11 is, byany internationally-accepted standards, a fair trial or acollusive trial. There are doubts and suspicions beingexpressed globally. The Pakistani Prime Minister has

Twenty-six stationshave been identified formaking them world-classstations. They said, “Therailway stations will looklike airports.” Not a singlerailway station haschanged nor has anyimprovement been seen.

June 16-30, 2009 16

now responded by saying, ‘Kashmir is the root cause.’So, whenever Pakistan wants a hostile attitude to bedeveloped, Kashmir again emerges, and that is again areiterated stand that the Pakistan has taken. How do wesee our borders? Our borders can never be secure if thespill-over of what is happening immediately outside ourborders gets carried into India. So you have Talibanwhich is creating turmoil in Pakistan; you have theMaoists creating instability in Nepal; you have theLTTE problem, which we all hope, gets resolved as faras Sri Lanka is concerned. You also have the Huji whichhas, besides illegal migrations from Bangladesh intoIndia, that the Supreme Court referred to as an invasionof India, has now madeBangladesh into a base forengineering all domestic attackswhich take place, as far as India isconcerned.

So, we are a country which isnow surrounded on all sides......So, you now have a situationwhere on all four sides we havethe Taliban, the Maoists, theLTTE, the HuJi, and we havePakistan which is not falling in line!I think, the Government must nowstop this; electoral victories aresufficient to prove a point.Youmust now really think in terms oftackling this situation.

Sir, the 26/11 trial is perhaps the most important ofthe terrorism trials which have taken place in India. Weare told by the hon. Home Minister at some stage, andit is an argument which I heard for the first time, that thegeneral IQ of the Members of his party is higher thanthat of my party! I have never seen political debatesfalling to this level. Suddenly I realised how all thegentlemen with a superior IQ were masterminding thisGovernment as far as the Mumbai trial is concerned.The first thing we did was appoint an ineligible personas the prosecutor so that the global community watchingthe trial will say that the whole trial is vitiated. Thesecond thing we did was to send an incorrect DNA ofKasab to Pakistan and then suddenly say that it was aclerical error.

The third thing we did was—and I do not knowwhat happened to the lady thereafter—we were told,‘we now discovered Qasab’s mother who is coming tomeet him and that we are a very liberal society, we areallowing her to meet him’, and then we did not hear ofher at all. Sir, such sensitive trials are not conducted in

a shabby manner. I think, those who boast of a veryclever IQ, their performance must reflect this adequately.

Yesterday, Sir, two important events have takenplace. The Hyderabad police has said that three terroristshave again entered India with the idea of creating terror.But the second, more important, event has taken place.The U.S. has clubbed us with Pakistan and issued atravel advisory that visitors must not visit India becauseIndia is no longer a safe place to visit! It is the first timethat this has happened. I can imagine this happeningif this country were in chaos. The Home Minister rightlysaid, ‘We reject this and we will call upon the U.S. towithdraw this advisory, India is perfectly a safe

destination.’ We all join him in thatrequest. But why has a panic ofthis kind been created? The panicof this kind gets created when theGovernment assumes a certainamount of arrogance to itself andthe Government starts believingthat it is the sole repository of allwisdom.

So, when a cricket tournamentwas to be held in India and Stateafter State said that we will hold itand no worry, what is thedifficulty? India is such a largecountry, holding one cricket matchevery evening in one part of the

country is not a national problem, but it was theGovernment of India which created panic. And, theGovernment of India said, ‘We would not allow this tohappen.’ So, the domestic cricket tournament went toSouth Africa. That day, we had cautioned theGovernment, ‘Please understand the consequences ofthis. The consequences of this are going to be that youare going to be clubbed with Pakistan. People will stopinvesting here because India is not a safe destination,tourists will stop coming here, travel advisories will notcome. What will happen to the Commonwealth Games?’So, when the Government of India created panic, theAustralian Davis Cup team said, ‘India is not a safedestination, we would rather lose and concede, but wewould not play in India.’

The United States has now turned around andissued a travel advisory against us. I think, thisGovernment needs to realise that it seriously believes,which we all do, that India is a safe destination. TheGovernment of India must seriously stop treating eachone of these issues as purely partisan. A large numberof India’s polity and governance is non-partisan, and,

So, we are a countrywhich is now surrounded onall sides...... So, you nowhave a situation where on allfour sides we have theTaliban, the Maoists, theLTTE, the HuJi, and we havePakistan which is not fallingin line!... You must now reallythink in terms of tackling thissituation.

June 16-30, 2009 17

therefore, we can in national interest rise to the occasionand not create a panic of this kind merely because somedemand is being made somewhere and we must beingon the other side of the political fence necessarily opposeit. Sir, the Government has given a large number ofprogrammes and schemes in the President’s Address.But normally a President’s Address is much more thana catalogue of governmental schemes, particularly afterelection in the first five years, it has to be a visionstatement of next five years. The vision is lacking in thisdocument but it is a catalogue as far as Governmentschemes are concerned. The Government implementsthese schemes, some of these schemes we will fullyendorse and I wish it the very best. We in the Oppositionwill certainly cooperate with the largenumber of these schemes, many ofthem are in national interest, but wewould also like to set a particularyardstick by which we will measurethis Government. I said, we are notgoing to oppose merely for the sake ofopposition, we are going to besupportive of several areas. We cancaution them of several areas. Whatare the steps this Government is goingto take to make our borders secure inorder to manage the situation, whichis taking place around our borders,and improve upon the domesticsecurity as far as India is concerned?How will the Government rise abovethis propaganda figure that we keptinflation under control? Inflation cameunder control not because of the steps of thisGovernment but inflation came under control becauseyou had a global recession and therefore, the slowdownimpact was felt in India. But we are in a strange situationand the hon. speaker from the Treasury Benches saidthat our economy is different from world economy. Yes,it is because even in a recessionary trend foodgrainsprices have continued to rise and therefore, there is asignificant amount of foodgrain-inflation, which affectsthis entire ‘right to food’ that we are talking about.Therefore, what steps will the Government take as faras this is concerned? How will the Government expeditethe infrastructure creation? You are an alibi saying thatthe choice of the Ministers last time was undercompulsion, we changed them; we brought betterpeople. Well, we are very happy, we compliment youfor doing that but please tell us what are you going todo as far as infrastructure creation is concerned? What

are you going to do beyond patting your back toimprove the lot of agrarian India in terms of ruralinfrastructure, in terms of procurement prices as far asfarmers are concerned, to get them to rise as far agrarianpoverty is concerned? You have a very tall promise thatyou are making India slum-free by 2014. Sir, the presentset of Indian politics will get the greatest credit, theGovernment will get the credit if it does that. We willsupport the Government in every measure to do that.But then there must be an expectation management,which any person with some level of understanding ofpolitics must have and, therefore, the Government haslaid down a very important test for itself that in 2014India will be a slum-free India. If people see slums it will

be synonymous for the Governmentfailure. Therefore, the Government isgoing to be judged by the standardsthat it has now laid down for itself.The issue of unemployment, which Ihad raised, both rural and urbanemployment, and to foot the bills ofall these schemes, which arecontained in the speech. Is it goingto be a very high-tax Government?

Is it going to start a decisivedecision-making process? How will ithandle the multilateral dialogues inthe climate change negotiations, inthe WTO in the months to come?Two important areas, Sir, which needto be mentioned.... One is with regardto the misuse of several institutionslike the CBI which took place in the

last five years.Every time an ally supported you, the case against

the leader of that ally was downplayed by the CBI. Themoment you had certain acrimony with that ally, theCBI expedited as far as case on him or her is concerned.We need structural, including legislative, reforms tomaintain the independence of institutions like the CBI,because, in the last five years, the credibility and theautonomy of that institution has completely destroyed.It has not been diluted; it has been destroyed. Some ofthe most eminent thinkers in this line have publiclyexpressed their views as far as this subject is concerned.

Sir, now, I come to the issue of Sri Lankan Tamils.The rehabilitation of Sri Lankan Tamils is something onwhich the Government of India has to play a pro-activerole. I come to education sector. Sir, I read statementsof the new Minister of HRD who has been promisinga lot on this front, both in terms of elimination of illiteracy,

India is such a largecountry, holding onecricket match everyevening in one part of thecountry is not a nationalproblem, but it was theGovernment of Indiawhich created panic.And, the Government ofIndia said, ‘We would notallow this to happen.’ So,the domestic crickettournament went toSouth Africa.

June 16-30, 2009 18

primary education, quality global education at affordableprices, etc.

Therefore, these are all the areas. When theGovernment lays down a road map for variousGovernmental schemes, these are all areas where we, inthe opposition, laying an important yardstick and judgethe Government by its performance in each one of theseareas.

Sir, I have a few suggestions to make for theGovernment before I conclude. The hon. Chief Ministerof Bihar has repeatedly said that Bihar needs a specialpackage. In fact, a lot of backward areas need it. Sir,Bihar, particularly, after the division of the State, needsit a lot more. This is one area which needs to be seriouslyconsidered by the Government. Sir, the hon. President’sAddress mentions a desire of theGovernment to bring a law whichhas been hanging for the last fouror five years to check communalviolence. The right things or eventhe good things that theGovernment wants to do have tobe done in a right manner. Shivrajjiis here. I think, he has conceivedthis Bill. It went to the StandingCommittee and ultimately it wasfound and there was anoverwhelming opinion that law andorder is a State Subject, can theCentre legislate on this and if theCentre legislate, the code eventually become some kindof an encroachment as far as the federal structure isconcerned. It is because it would directly enter into thelaw and order areas. Now, this is one area the Governmenthas to keep in mind, particularly when the Governmentgoes ahead as far as this proposal is concerned.

I am glad, Sir, that the word ‘D’ is back. The word‘D’ in Indian politics means ‘disinvestment.’

Sir, I am glad that the former Home Ministereffectively endorses what I have said. There is aprovision in the Constitution that the Centre can takeconsent from two State Legislatures, pass a Bill and itwill apply only in those States which then keep approvingthat Bill, because it is a subject which comes under thepurview of State List. So, you have promised somethingin the President’s Address to deal with the area whichsquarely covers as far as the State List is concernedand the Parliament does not have legislative competenceto deal with that area.

Sir, as I said, the ‘D’ word of Indian politics means‘disinvestment.’ When I heard Shri Satyabrat

Chaturvedi advocating the cause of disinvestment, Ithought that was hearing Mr. Arun Shourie. This wasborrowed wisdom. I am glad that it has travelled to theother side. But, it need not be regulated merely by apolicy regulation which was applied to each one of thePSU across the board. Please examine the case of eachPSU where do you require 51 per cent and where youdon’t require 51 per cent. The whole intention must beto keep efficient performance of those companies whichare valuable assets and also see that the resources canbe used.

Finally, Sir, something has been said in thePresident’s Address about the Sethu Samudram Project.I would only urge the Government to seriously examinebefore mindlessly saying that we will go ahead as is

where is, because we have themandate.

What is the cost-benefitassessment as far as this projectis concerned? What is the amountof investment that you are goingto make and what are the kind ofreturns required in coastalshipping? There have beenseveral people who haveconducted economic studies, andthey have different views on thissubject. If you are so keen to goahead, rather than polarising thesociety — as Mr. Keshava Rao

said, I am sure the Government will follow his advicenot to polarise the society — seriously examine thealternative routes. When you take steps of this kind,you obviously find some kind of social discontenttaking place. And, I am sure, the Government willseriously consider that it need not start on the wrongfoot once again once it has got a mandate to rule thecountry.

I wish the Government the very best. I am sure theGovernment started in the President’s Address withsome intentions for the future; but, at least, in thisHouse it started with a sense of acrimony. I am sure theGovernment will overlook what its representatives havedone today and, at least, carry on with the spirit that thePrime Minister said to the Leader of the Opposition inthe Lok Sabha, “Let’s make a new beginning”. If theGovernment does, we will certainly reciprocate.

Thank you, Sir. (Separately, we are also publishing full text of

the speeches made by our leaders in both Housesof Parliament in a booklet form. )

Every time an ally supportedyou, the case against the leaderof that ally was downplayed bythe CBI. The moment you hadcertain acrimony with that ally,the CBI expedited as far as caseon him or her is concerned. Weneed structural, includinglegislative, reforms to maintainthe independence of institutionslike the CBI.

June 16-30, 2009 19

BJP leader Karia Munda is DeputySpeaker Lok Sabha

The BJP on June 02 named ShriKaria Munda, senior party MP fromJharkhand, as its candidate for thepost of the Deputy Speaker of theLok Sabha. The treasury bench hadrecently conveyed to the BJPleadership that as per the conventionthe post should go to the Opposition.

“The BJP Parliamentary Board decided to name six-time party MP in the Lok Sabha Karia Munda as thecandidate for the post”. 72-year-old Shri Munda was aMinister in the Morarji Desai Government and later inthe Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ministry. He was earlier anMLA in Bihar and later in Jharkhand. Consequently, hewas unanimously elected Deputy Speaker on June 08.KARIYA MUNDA

Shri Kariya Munda is a veteran tribal leader ofBihar (now Jharkhand). Born on April 29, 1936 in Angira(Chanditola) District: Ranchi, Bihra (now in Jharkhand)got his M.A. degree from Ranchi University. A memberof Bharatiya Janata Party since the beginning Shri KariyaMunda was first elected to the 6th Lok Sabha in 1977when he became Union Minister of State, Steel andMines in the Janata Party government. In 1982 he was

elected to the Bihar Legislative Assembly. He was re-elected to the 9th Lok Sabha in 1989. He was UnionCabinet Minister for Agro and Rural Ministry, later forCoal in the NDA government from 2001-2003. In May2009 he was elected to the Lok Sabha (7th term fromJharkhand). He has been very active in the struggleagainst exploitation of tribals, social evils and promotionof education. He has deep interest in local sangeet anddance.

He has visited a number of countries like China,Nepal, North Korea, Singapore, Thailand and UAE. Hehas also been vice president of Bharatiya Janata Partyand President of Tribal Morcha.ARUN JAITLEY

Born on December 28, 1952 in Delhi Shri ArunJaitley is a Law Graduate aftercompleting his B.Com Hons. Byprofession a Senior Advocate,Supreme Court of India Shri Jaitleystarted his political career on gettingelected as President of DelhiUniversity Students Union in 1974.

In 1989-90 he was AdditionalSolicitor General, Government of India and has been amember of the BJP National Executive since 1991. Hehas held important positions in the party as GeneralSecretary and Spokesperson.

L.K. Advani to lead BJP in Lok SabhaArun Jaitley in Rajya Sabha

At its first meeting after the completion of general elections, theBharatiya Janata Party’s parliamentary Board on May 31 formallyelected Shri L.K. Advani as its leader in the Lok Sabha. Immediatelyafter the election, party National President Shri Rajnath Singh, whopresided over the meeting authorized Shri Advani to decide whowould be the party leader in the Rajya Sabha, the two deputy leadersin the two Houses, and party whips. Besides, Shri Advani was alsoauthorized to set up the parliamentary executive committee.

Shri LK Advani’s name was proposed by Shri Jaswant Singh andseconded by Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi and Smt. Sushma Swaraj fromthe Lok Sabha and Shri M Venkaiah Naidu, Shri Arun Jaitley and ShriShanta Kumar from the Rajya Sabha. The meeting signalled his electionwith the thumping of desks.

Later, on June 03 , Shri L. K. Advani appointed BJP General Secretary Shri Arun Jaitley as the Leader ofthe Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and Smt. Sushma Swaraj will be Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary Party inthe Lok Sabha. Shri Advani also appointed Shri SS Ahluwalia as the Deputy Leader of the BJP in the Rajya Sabha.Shri Ramesh Bais has been appointed the Chief Whip of the party in the Lok Sabha and senior leader from MadhyaPradesh Smt Maya Singh as such in the Rajya Sabha.

June 16-30, 2009 20

In the NDA government led by Shri Atal BihariVajpayee has held various positions as Minister ofState (Independent Charge) in the Ministry ofInformation and Broadcasting and Disinvestment,Ministry of Law, Justice and Company Affairs andCabinet Minister for Law Justice and Company affairsand Shipping.

He was elected to Rajya Sabha in July 2000 and re-elected in August 2006.

He has authored several Legal and CompanyAffairs and Law related to authored several write-upson legal and current affairs and the laws relating tocorruption and crime in India before the Indo-BritishLegal Forum; has also written on POTA, Vibrant Indiaand India at Cancun.

He was detained under MISA for 19 months duringemergency.Countries Visited:

U.S.S.R., as part of Youth Exchange delegation,1978; Switzerland and Sweden, as Additional SolicitorGeneral, 1990; U.S.A., as part of Indian delegation tothe U.N.G.A., 1998; Syria in connection with anInternational Treaty, 2000; also represented India duringvisits to U.S.A., Pakistan, U.K., France, Denmark, U.A.E.,the Netherlands, Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, China, Thailand,Japan, South Korea, Myanmar, Germany, South Africaand Hungary; led Indian delegation to the WTOConference held during 10-14 September 2003 in Cancun,Mexico.

Recipient of several distinctions for outstandingperformance Shri Arun Jaitley was prominent leader ofa movement against corruption launched in 1973 byLok Nayak Jai Prakash Narain. Shri Jaitley was a memberof the Indian delegation to the UN General AssemblySession in June 1998.

SUSHMA SWARAJBorn in Ambala Cantt. (Haryana)

in 1952, Smt. Sushma Swaraj graduatedfrom S. D. College, Ambala Cantt.(Haryana) and obtained her LLB degreefrom Law Department, PunjabUniversity, Chandigarh. Later, she wasconferred honorary degree of Doctorateby Agriculture University, Kanpur

A lawyer by profession, she was first elected toHaryana Assembly in 1977 and was a Cabinet Minister,Labour and Employment, Education, Food and CivilSupplies. In 1990, she was elected to Rajya Sabha andwas Chairperson of different committees. Elected to

eleventh Lok Sabha in 1996 and was Union CabinetMinister, Information and Broadcasting. In 1998 re-elected as Member, Twelfth Lok Sabha (2nd term) andwas Union Cabinet Minister, Information andBroadcasting and Telecommunications (Additionalcharge).Also served as Chief Minister, Delhi. April 2000Elected to Rajya Sabha (2nd term) and again served asMinister of Information and Broadcasting, and laterMinister of Health and Family Welfare and Minister ofParliamentary Affairs. Re-elected to Rajya Sabha (3rdterm) May 2006 onwards and was Deputy Leader of BJPParliamentary Party in Rajya Sabha.

Again elected to 15th Lok Sabha in May 2009 fromVidisha Parliamentary constituency in Madhya Pradesh.She is now the Deputy Leader of BJP ParliamentaryParty in Lok Sabha.

Widely travelled, she has visited Australia,Bangladesh, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Denmark, Dubai(U.A.E), Fiji, France, Germany, Holland, Hong Kong,Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Nepal, NewZealand, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Romania, Russia,Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland,Thailand, U.K., U.S.A. and Vatican City

She holds the distinction of being the youngestCabinet Minister in Haryana; the first woman ChiefMinister of Delhi; best speaker of Haryana Stateconsecutively for three years;. Her husband was theGovernor of Mizoram and later on a member of RajyaSabha. They find mention in the Limca Book of Records(1992 edition) as a distinguished couple; conferred,Outstanding Parliamentarian Award for the year 2004

S S AHLUWALIABorn on 4 July 1951 at Asansol,

Distt. Burdwan (West Bengal), Shri S.S. Ahluwalia, B. Sc. LL.B. is a veteranparliamentarian who entered the RajyaSabha in July 1986 and presentlyserving his fourth term.

He co-authored the book entitled "Mandal ReportX-rayed", 1990, dealing with the emerging hindrancesfor the society's march towards egalitarianism and thepotential reversal of the gains accrued by dint of theIndian Independence movement.

Widely travelled abroad, he has visited U.K., toaddress Peace Rally, 1986; Geneva (Switzerland), Hehas also visited Brussels (Belgium); New York (U.S.A.),to attend General Assembly session of the UnitedNations in October, 2002, Seoul (Republic of Korea),Windhoek (Namibia), Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.

June 16-30, 2009 21

Speaking on the occasion ofBJP government’scompletion of one year in

office, State Chief Minister Shri B SYeddyurappa said, ‘My immediatetask is to improve the power scenarioand implement all irrigation projects.I am concerned about globaldownturn which has affected notonly ITBT, but has hit all othersectors, including sericulture’.

It was on May 30, 2008 whenthe BJP went in to the politicalannals of South India, after seriouspolitical upheavals and struggle, forthe first time the BJP Governmentled by Chief Minister Shri B SYeddyurappa made its mark in theSouth. It’s history now, as the BJPhas completed a year, rocking to thetune of development.

A confident Chief Ministercame down on the Union

BJP Govt. in Karnataka : An year of achievements

Yeddyurappa promises rapid developmentPriority— development of backward classes and farmers

Government for the step-motherlyattitude towards Karnataka. He said“They are not helping us and noteven giving us financial aid whichwas due to us However, I amconfident that the new Ministersfrom the State would help us resolvea lot of things. I am hopeful to getall possible help from the Centre.”The CM said that his priority wouldbe economic development andparticularly development ofbackward classes and weakersections of the society.

Shri Yeddyurappa said, “I needthe Centre’s support to complete allthe pending projects, while takingup new projects”.

He said, “The BJP has provedbeyond doubt that it enjoyspeople’s confidence and has alsoexpanded the BJP’s vote baseacross the State. I have to stand up

to people’s expectation,” he said.Shri Yeddyurappa, has been in

the forefront fighting for the causeof the farmers. He intends to workout an economic package for thefarmers to put an end to theirsuicides. The CM, in fact, took anoath in the name of farmers andwants to develop the State into agreen zone.

He said, he is confident, butnot complacent. He wants all histeam members to work hard andchant the development mantra aspromised in the manifesto.

Shri Yeddyurappa, believes ingiving equal treatment to Muslimsand Christians. During this one yeartime he not only gives a goodgoverance, but also expanded hisbase through operation Lotus whichchanged the political dynamics ofthe State. (FOC)

Yeddyurappa calls onDr Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on June 02 assuredKarnataka Chief Minister Shri B.S. Yeddyurappa thatthe Centre would provide all possible assistance for

infrastructure development in Karnataka and Bangalore. Dr.Singh conveyed this to Shri Yeddyurappa when he called onhim along with State Home Minister Shri V.S. Acharya to greet him on his election as Prime Minister for the secondtime. During the meeting, the Prime Minister showed keen interest in knowing details of Karnataka’s position inagriculture, power, fertilizer supply and infrastructure development.

Shri Yeddyurappa detailed the various steps taken by the one-year-old Bharatiya Janata Party governmentfor all-round development of the state. The Chief Minister, who is leading a 16-member ministerial delegation, calledon Defence Minister Shri A.K. Antony and pressed for early clearance from the Air Force for passenger flightoperations at the new Bidar airport and permission to take over Defence lands with suitable compensation, inBangalore, for road-widening. Shri Antony promised to consider the issues at the earliest. He also appreciatedthe State government’s efforts to construct a war memorial in Bangalore. The State delegation met Home MinisterShri P. Chidambaram and sought, among other things, a National Security Guard (NSG) unit in Bangalore, specialstatus to the Hyderabad -Karnataka region for its speedy development on the lines of the Telangana and Vidarbharegions and more funds for strengthening the coastal police network. (FOC)

June 16-30, 2009 22

The BJP’s tally in the LokSabha elections is belowexpectations. We had

entered the 14th Lok Sabha with 138MPs and we hoped to win 160 seatsthis time — an increase of 22 seats.Ironically, our tally was exactly 22down to 116 seats. A thoroughanalysis of the 2009 verdict will taketime but some messages theelectorate wanted to deliver areabsolutely clear.

The BJP contested the electionson predominantly three themes: theinability of the UPA government totake concrete and decisive steps inthe management of the economy;the need to strengthen nationalsecurity; and the importance of astrong and decisive leadership. Allthe three themes were directly linkedto governance.

The results have demonstratedthat there was a surge in favour ofthe Congress across the country.Even Congress supporters wouldhave conceded that its past fiveyears were wasted in indecision. Thegovernment didn’t live up to popularexpectation in announcing decisivemeasures to fight the economicslowdown nor did it adopt measuresto strengthen India’s security.Despite these glaring failures theCongress secured more votes andseats.

There was a larger central issuein the elections. Not only did we inthe BJP fail to read it, even theCongress did not foresee it. Thiswas the desire of the Indian voter toensure politically stable governmentfree from obstructions androadblocks. The experience of thepast five years had strengthenedthe resolve of the Indian voter to

elect a governmentwhich is moredecisive and is notprevented fromacting merelybecause supportingallies are a hurdle inthe decision-makingprocess.

In the past fiveyears, the Lefto b s t r u c t e deconomic decision-making. The leadersof the government not onlyappeased the Left but wereparalysed into inaction. Afterwithdrawing its support from theUPA, the Left was replaced by theSamajwadi Party. The SamajwadiParty’s agenda was more thanmerely political. Its quid pro quo forsupport involved the receipt ofgenerosity from the CBI for theparty’s leader.

The Left now attempted a newexperiment. It led a combination ofparties ranging from the BSP, TDPand AIADMK whose aim was towin over 100 seats and on that basispressure the Congress intosupporting a Third Front from withinor outside. With the country beingpushed into this nightmare, the UPAand the NDA attempted to increasetheir seats. But the voter wanted tofavour one side decisively to wardoff the Third Front threat.

The architects of obstructionwere badly punished and routed.The BSP got less than half the seatsit expected. The Left was routed inthe states of West Bengal andKerala to its lowest tally in recentmemory. The TDP and AIADMKwere expected to fare much better

but got only a smallfraction of what theyexpected. The majorgains of the UPAcame from the stateswhere the Third Frontwas hoping to dowell. But the ripplesof the anti-ThirdFront mood were alsofelt in the NDA-dominated states. Welost some seats in anumber of states. The

first message of the electorate wasthus clear: they wanted a stablegovernment free from any form ofpolitical obstruction.

Which were the states wherethe non-Congress parties were ableto resist this surge of the Congress?These were essentially those stateswhere the governance record of thenon-Congress parties had beengood. The non-Congress partieswon an overwhelming majority ofseats in Orissa, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka.In the face of this Congress surge,they still managed to win a majorityof the seats in Madhya Pradesh andGujarat. The second message of theelectorate was thus equally clear: itwanted good governance. Even inthe face of the Congress surge, itspared the opposition in states inwhich the chief ministers hadgoverned well.

Additionally, there are a largenumber of regional/ local factorswhich may have influenced theelectorate in several states. The in-fighting within the Left in Kerala,the sympathy for the Sri Lanka Tamilcause in Tamil Nadu, the division ofnon-Congress votes in Andhra

Triumph of the moderateBy : Arun Jaitley

June 16-30, 2009 23

Pradesh, the MNS effect whichhelped the Congress in Maharashtraand the inability of the BJP to fieldmore young candidates could beseveral other factors.

Why did the benefits ofpolitical stability accrue to theCongress and not the BJP? Apossible reasoning could be that theCongress had a larger pan-Indiapresence. The Congress was avictim of obstructions caused bythe Left, the Samajwadi Party. Theprime minister’s own image createda sense of sympathy, that a manwho wanted to deliver was beingobstructed from proceeding further.

But there are other importantlessons the political class can gleamfrom the results. Sober governancehelps, shrillness does not.Moderation and understatement arevirtues.

India is changing, the profile ofthe Indian voter is changing. Boththe Indian politician and the politicalparties must also change. The factthat most criminal candidates lost isitself an indication that theelectorate is looking for cleanerpoliticians. Politics directs the lifeof a nation. It influences decision-making. The individuals who man itmust have a tall and mature stature.The ethical criterion cannot bedisregarded any more. Whilealigning with any coalition, politicalparties will have to watch that thebaggage of the alliance partnersdoes not get transferred to them. Iam sure the TDP and AIADMKwould introspect whether being apart of an over-ambitious but adisruptionist alliance cost themseats in Parliament.

I also have a few otherpreliminary thoughts. Are wemoving towards a greater bipolarpolitics? The Third and the FourthFronts have temporarily evaporatedafter May 16. Secondly, the

opposition space belongspredominantly to the BJP/ NDA.

India is passing through aserious crisis; the economic concernis one of them. There is noimprovement in the internal securityscenario. There is trouble ensuingin several of our neighbouringcountries which concerns us. Theemergence of the Taliban in Pakistanis an area of concern. Our primaryobjective as a responsiblenationalist party is to strengthenIndia.

We will support thegovernment where national interestsare at stake. We in the BJP willoppose the government when wefind it wanting. We have also seenthe emergence of political arrogancein the party in power. The manner inwhich the allies have been snubbed

is not merely a reaction to theerstwhile allies who irritated thegovernment; even friendly allies arebeing cut to size. Arrogance inpolitics is always the first but a sureindicator of a future decline.

Finally, many feel that Verdict2009 gives legitimacy to India as adynastic democracy. A cursory lookat a cross-section of our young MPssuggests that most of them areinheritors of a legacy, and not thosewhose merit has impressed thevoters. The real strength of Indiandemocracy will only be realisedwhen merit prevails over familynames. India must grow as ademocracy and not as a state withfeudal moorings.

(The writer is a BJP MP andLeader of Opposition in

Rajya Sabha)

Himachal Pradesh number one20-point plan honour for State: Dhumal

Himachal Pradesh has been ranked Number 1 in the country inimplementation of the 20-Point Programme during the period April, 2008 toJanuary 2009. A communiqué from the Central Government in this regardwas received by Chief Minister Prof. PK Dhumal onJune 01. Prof. PK Dhumal congratulated all theimplementing agencies for the outstandingperformance under different parameters determinedby the designated body at national level and disclosedthat the State had succeeded in achieving 495 percent of target under Swaranjayanti Gram SwarojgarYojna and assisted 7,157 persons against the targetof 1,446. Under the National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Programme (NREG), the State issued7,91,847 job cards, generated employment for 1,18,75,000 and paid wagesworth Rs. 77,28,83,000. Under Self Help Group (SHG) the State achieved 101per cent target by forming 531 groups against the target of 524 and settled53 claims under Minimum Wages Enforcement (Including Farm Labour)against the target of 11, he added. The Chief Minister said that under thePublic Distribution System (PDS), the achievement was 100 per cent andagainst allocation of 3,83,980 ton of food grain, 3,85,135 ton of grains werelifted and under Food Security (Antyodaya Ann Yojna) the State lifted71,878 ton of grain against allocation of 68,950 ton. (FOC)

~~~~~~☯☯☯~~~~~~

June 16-30, 2009 24

India’s exports, according to thePTI contracted for the seventhsuccessive month dropping

sharply by 33.2 per cent, $10.74billion in April 2009, the highest fallin the last 14 years, from $16.08billion in the same month a year ago.

The continued recession andeconomic downturn, especially inthe U.S. and European markets,took a toll on exports as well asimports.

Imports dropped by 36.6 percent to $15.75 billion during themonth. Shrinking world demand hasaffected India’s handicrafts, gemsand jewellery, leather and textileexports severely during the currentfinancial year. Imports fell fasterthan exports declining by 36.6 percent in April, with non-oil importscontracting 24.6 per cent,suggesting that domestic investmentactivity continued to remainsluggish.

According to official figuresreleased in New Delhi on June 01, a58 per cent decline in oil imports ledto a sharp fall in overall imports,

In April Exports drop 33%, Imports 36.6%Highest fall in last 14 years

Indian bureaucracy least efficientamong 12 Asian nations

According to a business survey conducted by Hong Kong-basedPolitical & Economic Risk Consultancy, the Indian bureaucracy is theleast efficient among 12 Asian nations.

The survey said Singapore’s civil servants are the most efficientamong their Asian peers but tend to clam up when things go wrong.

The 12 pages report by PERC said working with India’s civil servantswas a slow and painful process. “The bureaucrats in the country were apower centre in their own right at both the national and state levels andwere extremely resistant to reforms.”

The survey ranked Hong Kong second. Thailand, despite four yearsof street protests and a year of dysfunctional government, was rankedthird. China, which has been campaigning to fight corruption and improveefficiency in the civil service was ranked 9th in 2009, two places downfrom 2007.

The 12 economies, in order of ranking were: Singapore, Hong Kong,Thailand, S Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, China, Philippines,Indonesia and India.

Courtesy: PTI

resulting in a narrow trade deficit of$5 billion in April against $8.7 billiona year ago. After a growth rate ofover 30 per cent in the first sixmonths of 2008-09, exports starteddeclining since October. In 2008-09,exports grew by a meager 3.4 per

cent to $168.7 billion.According to the official

figures, oil imports contracted by58.5 per cent to $3.6 billion in April,while non-oil inbound shipmentstoo dropped by 24.6 per cent to $12.1billion. Official report said exports

would remainin the rangeof $170billion in2 0 0 9 - 1 0 .“With risingoil productprices, thetrade deficitfor thecurrent fiscalwould remainat $100 billioncompared tolast year’s$ 1 2 0billion”.

June 16-30, 2009 25

Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Shri ShivrajSingh Chouhan on June

03 met Union Surface TransportMinister Shri Kamal Nath,Agriculture Minister Shri SharadPawar, Power Minister Shri SushilKumar Shinde and Minister of State(Independent Charge) for Coal ShriSriprakash Jaiswal in New Delhi forthe cause of the State.

Shri Chouhan urged the SurfaceTransport Minister to help in thedevelopment of National Highwaysin the State into four-lane corridors.National Highways in the State arebeing four-laned by NHAI. As ofnow only 829 km of the total lengthof 4,277 km NH has been four-lanedin the State. Shri Chouhan pointedout that inadequate roadinfrastructure of the NationalHighway was hampering inattracting investment and overalldevelopment of the State. Shri KamalNath assured him of early clearanceof all the projects pending with theGovernment of India. He said thatNational Highways passing throughMadhya Pradesh would be

developed on priority basisbecause of the State’s strategicgeographical location.Takes up farmers'cause

In a meeting with ShriSharad Pawar, he informedabout the prevailing severewater crisis in Nimar and Malwaregion of the State. He said thatwheat in abundant quantity hadbeen purchased from farmers atsupport price, thereby farmers havebeen paid more and bonus had beengiven to them. Shri Pawar said thequality of wheat in Madhya Pradeshwas better than the wheat producedin Punjab and Haryana. ShriChouhan reminded Shri Pawar thatlast year the Central Governmenthad given initial assistance of Rs.1,500 crore and long-term Plan of Rs24,000 crore was submitted to tacklesevere drought in Bundelkhandregion but till now not even a singlepaisa had been received. A studyteam from the Government of Indiawas also of the opinion that lastyear Bundelkhand was facing severedrought condition. Shri Pawar

Chauhan meets Union Ministers,seeks help in clearing major projects

assured all possible help for theNational Agriculture DevelopmentPlan. The Chief Minister invited theAgriculture Minister to visit theState. The Agriculture Ministerinformed that he would be visitingMadhya Pradesh next month.Demand rethink on coalexport policy

Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhanalso urged Shri Sriprakash Jaiswalto supply coal from coalmines ofthe State itself for power plants ofthe State. He pointed out that coalfor Birsinghpur and Amarkantakthermal power plants was beingsupplied from 300 km away whilethe coal mines were located merely15 km away from the plant. He urgedthe Ministers to rethink on the coalexport policy. He said that at presentthe requirement of coal in the Statewas 17 lakh MT, but the State wasgetting only 11 lakh MT. Thus, thereis a shortfall of 6 lakh MT. As aresult of this, thermal power plantsare not able to generate electricityat their maximum level. ShriChouhan also pointed out to theunallocated quota of electricity ofabout 382 MW to the State. He alsourged to change the old GadgilFormula. Power Minister Shri SushilKumar Shinde said that he wouldconsider the matter of unallocatedquota. Shri Jaiswal assured that coalwould be supplied from the State itselfand for the development works.

Shivraj Singh Chauhan calls on the PMIn his first meting with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh after he

was sworn in for the second time, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister ShriShivraj Singh Chauhan has raised the issue of supply of coal to the thermalpower Plants in his state.

Talking to media persons, he said, “The thermal power plants in thestate require about 17 lakh metric tonnes of coal, but we are allocated onlyabout 11 lakh metric tonnes. This is creating a major hurdle in meeting thepower demand in the state and is turning out to be an obstacle in the pathof development,” and added that he raised this matter with the PrimeMinister during his courtesy call on June 2nd.

Shri Chauhan said he also raised the issue of a letter sent to him bythe previous UPA regime, asking the state to import coal to meet itsdemand. “This was an unexpected response to our demand to the Centregiven that Madhya Pradesh has large coal deposits. Since the thermalplants have to buy it from coal companies, we are being deprived off ourcoal needs. This has affected our power generating capacity,” Shri Chauhansaid, explaining the reason behind raising the issue in the “courtesy call”.

Madhya Pradesh

June 16-30, 2009 26

Even as the Pakistani army isintensifying its operations inthe Swat valley, and the US

steps up its forces in Afghanistan,opposition from the Taliban in thetribal regions of Pakistan isincreasing. The Pakistani Taliban islaunching more terror attacks, andmedia speculation about the safetyof Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal andmaterials has become louder, bothin the US and elsewhere. ThePakistani army’s operations havebeen so intensive and extensive thatnearly three million people havebeen internally displaced. It is anindication that this time around thePakistani army is taking on theTaliban in all seriousness. The USnational security adviser, GeneralJames Jones, has described theoperations as “a new andcomprehensive and so farimpressively successful effort by thePakistan army... to its challenge bythe Taliban”.

The Pakistani army’soperations have the support ofmainstream political parties and,increasingly, of the civil society inthat country. As the Pakistani armygains confidence that its campaignagainst the Taliban has India’ssupport, and that it has no reasonto be anxious about its easternborder, it is possible for ourneighbour to transfer more troopsfrom east to west, and intensify itsanti-Taliban operations further.Meanwhile, the US is augmentingits forces in Afghanistan. Therefore,speculation about the risk of nuclearweapons and materials falling into

the wrong hands – at a time whenthe Pakistani army, government andcivil society appear to have decidedto firmly fight the Taliban threat –indicates a lack of confidence in theprofessionalism of the Pakistaniarmy and the staying power of theUS in this campaign.

Atypical example of this is thearticle ‘Help us or we leave’ in theInternational Herald Tribune lastweek by Stanley Weiss, the eminentfounding chairman of the BusinessExecutives for National Security. Heargues that if Russia, China, Iranand India – which have an interestin eliminating the al-Qaeda – don’tcome to the help of the US, it shouldquit Afghanistan. In India, reportsof US efforts to negotiate deals withvarious warlords in Afghanistan,including Hekmatyar and Haqqani,tend to be interpreted as signs ofeagerness by the US to get out ofAfghanistan. In the light ofinadequate progress of America’sovertures to Iran, Israeli primeminister Benjamin Netanyahu’sintransigence, North Koreandefiance and the US’s compromisewith Pakistan – on the wording ofthe aid legislation – President BarackObama’s image as an effectiveleader has lost some of its earliershine.

There is a basic misconceptionin the US regarding the Taliban, thatthere are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ Talibans.According to the Americans, the‘good’ Taliban is interested inenforcing sharia law over its ownterritory while the ‘bad’ Talibanwants to extend the same to other

territories too. The Pakistanigovernment reached an agreementwith the Taliban in Swat but it didnot work out. The Talibangovernment of Mullah Omar wouldhave fulfilled the definition of ‘good’Taliban, but the al-Qaeda operatesfrom its territory. Therefore, theAmericans had to drive out the‘good’ Taliban from Afghanistan.Now, Mullah Omar operates fromQuetta, in Pakistan. The Pakistanisallow Mullah Omar to functionwithout obstruction in Quetta.Meanwhile, his groups are stilloperating in Afghanistan as well,fighting the US and NATO forcesthere. All this confusion is part ofthe baggage inherited by theAmericans from the days when theywere negotiating with the Talibanfor the UNOCAL pipeline fromTurkmenistan to Pakistan viaAfghanistan. Those were the dayswhen the al-Qaeda ran its terrorcamps in Afghan territory, enlistingthe help of various Pakistani jihadiorganisations.

What is being overlooked,meanwhile, is the fact that what theworld is fighting against in the Af-Pak area is a dangerous ideology.The terrorists believe it is theirmanifest destiny to spread their cultaround the globe, and that thisagenda can be achieved throughterrorism.

The US, by proposing thecontact group consisting of theEuropean Union, Russia, China,India, Iran, Central Asian Republicsand Saudi Arabia, has already

Stand Up, Be CountedFighting the Taliban threat should be a global enterprise

By : K Subrahmanyam

Continued on page 28....

June 16-30, 2009 27

Nationwide Protest against racialattacks on Indian students in Australia

From Our Correspondents

Advani asks centre to ensure safety ofIndian students in Australia

Racism is a blot on humanityIn a statement on June 01, 2009, Shri L.K. Advani,

Leader of the Opposition (Lok Sabha) severely criticizedthe attacks in recent weeks on Indian students inAustralia. He said I am appalled by, and stronglycondemn, a series of racist attacks in recent weeks onIndian students studying in Australia. As many as95,000 Indian students study in Australia. A largecommunity of Indian immigrants also lives in Australia.The responsibility of ensuring their safety restssquarely with the Government of Australia.

He said racism is a blot of humanity. In the past itwas a tool of colonialism, and gave the rulers a falsesense of supremacy over the subjugated. It isunfortunate that this accursed relic of the past has beenallowed to survive in Australia.

The BJP demands effective steps by the authoritiesin Australia, including quick and deterrent action againstthose involved in the racist attacks, to instill a feelingof safety among students and immigrant Indians in thecountry. We also urge the Government of India to makesustained diplomatic efforts to ensure their safety,security and wellbeing.

No place for Indians in Australia,100 attacked in 12 months

BJP demands quickaction from Govt.

Australian attacks on Indian students has caughtpolitical headlines with the BJP striking hard at theManmohan Singh-led Congress Government anddemanding a special cell to look into the increasingincidents of attacks on Indian students abroad.

Saying that the party would raise the issue in theforthcoming session of Parliament, BJP NationalSpokesperson Shri Prakash Javadekar said on May 30,

“The Government shouldset up a special cell to lookinto the various cases ofattacks, small or big,against Indians studyingor working in foreigncountries.

This would provide asense of security amongIndians.” Terming theattacks as “racial” and asan attempt by “certainpowers” to create unrestamongst the Indiancommunity abroad, ShriJavadekar said the partywould raise the issue in

“both houses of Parliament during discussion onPresident’s address” next week.

Referring to the tele talk between External AffairsMinister Shri S M Krishna with his Australiancounterpart Stephen Smith over the attacks on Indianstudents in that country, he said, “Making phone callswill not solve the issue. All attempts must be made toprovide security to Indians working or studyingabroad.” He said besides Australia, Indians have alsobeen attacked in the US. “In the past one and half years,eight Indians from Andhra Pradesh have been murderedin the US,” he reminded.

June 16-30, 2009 28

,BJYM protest march in DelhiThakkar, Jolly meet Australian envoy

BJP youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morchaorganized a peaceful protest march against racial attackson students of Indian origin in Australia on June 01 tothe Australian High Commission located atChanakyapuri in New Delhi.

Nearly 500 youthleaders led by BJYMNational President ShriAmit Thakkar, BJYM DelhiPresident Shri AnujSharma and all-India BJPoverseas cell jointconvener Shri Vijay Jollydemonstrated at theAustralian HighCommission againstassaults on Indianstudents in the countryand demanded actionagainst those guilty ofcarrying out violent attacks against Indian students.

Pointing out that the security of Indian students inAustralia is the responsibility of the AustralianGovernment, the delegation said the attacks had cast ashadow over the friendly relations between the twocountries.

Australian High Commissioner John McCarthyassured the BJP youth leaders of his Government’ssupport for the security and safety of Indian studentsin Australia.

He further stated that his Government deploredattacks on Indian students. Increased policing would

be provided at trouble spots around Australianuniversities and suburbs in Melbourne, Sydney andBrisbane, he said.

The Australian High Commissioner also said theIndian students should be fearless in approaching theAustralian police in time of distress. He also stressedthat suitable legislation shall be enacted in AustralianParliament for the safety and security of internationalstudents staying in Australia.

In a Press statement BJYM leaderssaid the meeting between McCarthy andthe six-member BJYM delegationconsisting of Shri Amit Thakkar, Shri AnujSharma, Shri Vijay Jolly, Shri Sunil Yadav,BJP Delhi State General Secretary Shri RPSingh, State Secretary Shri Ashish Soodand State Media coordinator Shri GauravPandey lasted for over 45 minutes.

The High Commissioner gave a patienthearing to the leaders along with DeputyHigh Commissioner Sarah Hooper inattendance. Shri Thakkar and Shri Jollyexpressed deep anguish and dismay over

the repeated attacks.Shri Jolly pointed out that these incidents were

bound to affect Indo-Australian relations adversely.Every year Australia earns revenue worth Rs 4,800crore from educational services to nearly 80,000 Indianstudents.

A total of Rs 10 to 12 lakh per annum is spent ontuition fee, boarding, lodging and food expenses byeach Indian student. Shri Jolly said that the Australiangovernment will give immediate security to Indianstudents and should take concrete steps to short outthe problems.

acknowledged the global nature of the problem. The contact group could develop a global approach, on thebasis of which various nations facing the jihadi threat could offer specific help. India, on its part, has investeda billion dollars worth of aid in the development of infrastructure in Afghanistan and has lost its people toterrorism.

The US’s staying power in Afghanistan, and its ability to mobilise meaningful international support, willdepend on how it conceptualises the global nature of the Taliban threat, and Washington’s ability topersuade the Pakistani army to accept such an assessment. While the Pakistani army was responsible to alarge extent for nurturing this Frankenstein, the US, too, bears significant responsibility. Today, to savePakistan, Afghanistan, the rest of the world, and the fair name of Islam, the jihadi threat has to be foughtagainst in a spirit of global cooperation. And in this campaign, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the mainbattlefields.

Courtesy : TOI

...continued from page 26

June 16-30, 2009 29

UTTARAKHAND

BJP wins Kapkot by-pollShri Sher Singh Gadiya of the Bharatiya Janata

Party was declared elected to the Uttarakhand Assemblyfrom Kapkot on June 01 defeating his nearest rival, Ms.Kunti Parihar of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP),by 7,167 votes.

The Congress which captured all the five LokSabha seats in the state, finished third. Shri Gadiyapolled 13,823 votes and Ms. Parihar 6,656. The resultwas announced by Chief Electoral Officer Shri RadhaRaturi.

Expressing happiness over the outcome, ChiefMinister Shri B. C. Khanduri said the victory in Kapkotshowed that the people still trusted the BJP. The by-election was necessitated by the elevation of formerChief Minister Shri Bhagat Singh Koshiary to the RajyaSabha last year.

Comfortable tally in AssemblyThe BJP got a shot in the arm bagging the Kapkot

assembly seat in Uttarakhand which gave the party anabsolute majority in the Assembly with 35 members inthe House with an effective strength of 69.

Khanduri stresses on developmentUttarakhand Chie Minister Shri B C Khanduri held

a day-long review meeting on May 27 in Dehradun,with the officials of the various districts as well as thetop brass of the state administration sending a clearmessage that the only priority of the state governmentis the overall development of the state.

“We have been focusing on the development ofthe state and its people.

It would not be wrong to say that over the lasttwo years our hands were tied by repeatedimplementation of the election model code of conductowing to a series of by polls and other elections.Now, we want to get back on track towardsimplementing development oriented schemes,” saidShri Khanduri.

He asserted that his focus was on ensuringcohesion between the district-level officials and stategovernment to ensure that the beneficiaries of variousschemes faced no problems in getting their due. Thiswas the first major administrative event after theelections.

“Today’s meeting is focused on how to improvethings,” he said.

CHATTISGARH

State to take tough stand againstmining firms

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Dr. Raman Singh onMay 31 has asked the industry department to take atough stand against mining companies that failed tofulfill their commitment of planting saplings, in andaround their company. The industry department is nowplanning to cancel the mining leases of these companies,both public and private, blaming them for “environmentneglect”.

An industry department official said, “Thegovernment has taken a serious note of the failure of14 companies to plant saplings in areas where they areresponsible for environmental degradation due tomining of iron ore or coal”.

He added that the Chief Minister had asked thedepartment to consider cancellation of mining leases ofindustrial houses because they were committed topromote greenery but failed to honour their promises.It is notable that extensive mining has caused massivedeforestation in Chhattisgarh. In 2007, companiesplanted saplings in just 110 km of area against a targetof 391 km.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Nine new ‘Panchkarma’ centres in HPThe state will give added priority to give a boost

to health tourism by introducing the traditional healingsystem of “panchkarma” in nine new centres in thestate. This was stated by Chief Minister Prof. PK Dhumalwhile reviewing the progress of the AyurvedaDepartment, in Shimla on May 27 . “Since panchkarmais gaining popularity with the tourists it has been decidedto open nine new centres,” he said.

He said the state had great potential for promotinghealth tourism and the Ayurveda and Tourismdepartments would be involved in the initiative. “Wehave 40 trained Ayurvedic medical officers whospecialise in panchkarma system,” he said. He addedthat this sector had vast employment and self-employment potential, which could help youth in settingup their own ventures.

Shri Dhumal said the state had 4,000 healthinstitutions out of which 1,154 were of Ayurveda,homoeopathy and Unani system of medicine. “Himachalhas the highest density of health institutions ascompared to most other states and well above thenational norm,” he stated. Prof. Dhumal said the state

State Reportsfrom Our Correspondents

June 16-30, 2009 30

had launched an anemia free programme in Kangra andHamirpur districts. “Out of a total of 6.75 lakh personsexamined, 56 per cent were found to be suffering fromanaemia,” he added.

MADHYA PRADESH

Girl is no more a cursein State : Chauhan

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shri Shivraj SinghChauhan distributed savings certificates under variousschemes among the beneficiaries on May 29 at a functionduring his Sidhi stay.

The Chief Minister distributed savings certificatesamong 24 girls under Ladli Laxmi Yojana. Speaking onthe occasion, he said that the birth of a girl is no morea curse in the State. Under various schemes, the StateGovernment is extending financial assistance right fromthe birth of a girl, on her education as well as marriage.Free text-books, sets of school uniform and bicycles arebeing provided to girls apart from Rs 5,000 assistanceeach under Gaon Ki Beti Yojana for college educationon passing their exams in first division. The parents ofthe 24 girls who were given savings certificates willreceive Rs one lakh each when these girls attain majority.

During his Sidhi stay, Chief Minister Shri Chauhandistributed land leases to 66 tribals under Forest RightsAct. He said that legal rights of the land on which tribalpeople are living will be given to them.

The Chief Minister distributed cheques worth Rs20,000 each under Mazdoor Suraksha Yojana among28 beneficiaries. Water Resources Minister Shri JayantMalaiya, Tribal Welfare Minister Shri Jagannath Singh,MP Shri Govind Prasad and Panchayat representativeswere also present on the occasion.

DELHIMayor wants Jal Board to be

handed over to MCDReacting to Chief Minister Smt. Sheila Dikshit’s

recent remarks indicating that the Municipal Corporationof Delhi be brought under the control of the DelhiGovernment, Delhi Mayor Dr. Kanwar Sain on June 01asked the Delhi Government to hand over the Delhi JalBoard back to the civic body.

Dr. Sain said, “There are various departments andbodies under the aegis of the Delhi Governmentincluding the Jal Board.

All the residents of Delhi at some point or the otherwould have come in contact with the Jal Board andwould have realized how difficult it is to get any workdone through that body. Whether it is related to supplyof water, the quality of water or maintenance of sewersunder the control of the Jal Board, not one issue hasbeen resolved by them.”

“The city of Delhi is suffering at the hands ofinsensitive and inefficient officials of the Delhi Jal Boardand the Chief Minister of Delhi has not been able totake any steps or draw up any concrete action plan forimproving the functioning of the body. Thus instead ofthe Delhi Government taking over MCD and itsdepartments, I suggest that the Delhi Government handover the Delhi Jal Board back to us. I can assure youthat we will draw up a plan and ensure that all theproblems related to water and sewer are solved in notime,” he added. The Mayor said since most of theessential services were being maintained and controlledby the civic body, it would be easier for them tocoordinate the work of the Jal Board if it is under thedirect control of the MCD.

A newly wed couple busy talking ontheir newly acquired mobile phones giftedby Madhya Pradesh Culture and PublicRelations Minister Shri Laxmikant Sharmato all 328 couples at a mass marriageceremony organized under the ChiefMinister’s Kanyadaan Yojna in Sironjtownship of Madhya Pradesh on June 03.

Mass marriage ceremony organized in Madhya Pradesh