'UNPA'ralleled Comedy... and it continues

After closely following the 'Third Front' politics, I am left confused who is IN and who is OUT of UNPA. So, before going further into it, I must confess that I am not sure about parties which were then present or atleast present now in UNPA, and I presume that readers would understand my inability. United National Progressive Alliance, as the alliance christened by regional parties, is supposed to be an alliance which is equidistant from Congress led UPA and BJP led NDA. Ofcourse, as every regional party had their own ambitions and aspirations, and there was no common idea/ideology to bind them together, UNPA has been a 'waiting room' for almost every regional party whenever they needed one.

When UNPA was started, TDP (Telugu Desam Party), AIADMK (All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) and SP (Samajwadi Party) have been the major parties advocating this idea of third front. Ofcourse, MDMK (Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam), AGP (Asom Gana Parishad) and INLD (Indian National Lok Dal) were its other partners. Mr.Naidu's aspirations to go 'National' have taken shape, though his party's situation in his state weren't all that pleasing for him. The UNPA with its about 60 MPs formed a 3rd biggest alliance in the Parliament following UPA and NDA.

The first step of UNPA at the national level was supporting Dr.APJ for a second term. This, ofcourse, was much to the liking of most of the Indian public, as the polls of various news dailies and channels have shown that Dr.Kalam is indeed the best and most popular president, the nation ever had. However, the way it was carried along, ended up embarrasing Kalamji, and we had Pratibha Patil taking charge instead.

Following that, perhaps first to come out was AIADMK+MDMK. Ms.Jayalalitha, who was the secretary of UNPA then, had resigned for her post, and pulled her party out of the alliance. Again, I am not sure of when small parties like Jharkhand Vikas Manch came, saw and went, or whether they are still with UNPA. So, counting those changes as infinitesimal, we shall not worry about them. Following that we have SP leaving UNPA to UPA to support the Nuclear deal. UNPA then approaches BSP (or viceversa; ofcourse it really doesn't matter though!), who joins the 'Front', and now Mr.Naidu truimphantly claims to bring first Dalit lady PM to India in the coming future and proposes the candidacy of Ms.Mayawati for the next general elections. The left parties which has come out of UPA and now supporting UNPA for an alliance, however seems not completely happy with this idea. Only Mr.Chandrababu Naidu knows why BSP is been approached only after SP has left, if he had the idea of bringing 'social justice'. However, the equation is logical because BSP has the capabilities of winning a huge chunk of seats in the next elections, as it is a regional party in UP, and since it is not in good terms with either Congress or BJP. The INLD and AGP hasve joined the NDA back (again as per the best of my knowledge). The JKNC (J&K National Conference) led by Abdullahs now teams up with UPA, from UNPA, after the Jammu and Kashmir state elections, as teaming up with Congress is essential to form a Government.

Coming to the parties which might be in UNPA, I can think of only TDP. There is a fair chance of JD(S) (Janata Dal (Secular)) being in UNPA for a while, though Mr.Deve Gowda is whimsical and his son, Mr.Kumaraswamy, has proved to be no less than his father. The Dravida Parties would polarise towards one of UPA or NDA; generally DMK towards the former and AIADMK+MDMK towards the latter. Situation is almost the same in Bihar, with RJD being the close ally of UPA and JD(U) (Janata Dal United) with the NDA. AITC (All India Trinamool Congress) which has been an ally of NDA, again, would be in uncertainity till the election results are out. After the Kashmir elections, one more probable for UNPA for the next 5 years, would probably be Mufti's PDP (People's Democratic Party), since they would be forced to come out of UPA. Similarly, JKNPP (J&K National Panther's Party), who would be in a similar situation as PDP might be yet another one.

With all this hodgepodge, I hope I haven't confused you. But, if you are, please understand that its the mistake of neither of us.

The Kashmir Verdict

The 61% turnout in the Kashmir Assembly elections mandate was towards coalition for the second time. This turnout, which is far bigger than the previous times (45% during last elections), is greater than that of some of the states in India. This increase in percentage implies that the zero pre-election violence played a role in getting the voters to the poling booths. It also sends a clear NO to the seperatists, who continue their harangue in the news channels inspite of all this. Thanks to the election commission's efficient way of organising elections, we now can be confident about this as the Kashmir's verdict for their own Government.

JKNC emerges as the biggest party again, with its 28 seats. After being voted out of power in the last election, for a replacement by PDP-Congress alliance, JKNC looks to make a comeback this time. Just after the last election, the power bargains by the Mufti duo with the Congress went about for a month, finally settled with Mufti Mohammed as the Chief minister for the 'first-half'. The Common Minimum Programme (CMP) talk by the PDP seemed to continue after the end of this election also, though their seats are no way near for a formation of the Govt. But, even before that Congress has learnt a lesson for being with PDP last time, and would be definitely happy to team up with the Abdullahs than the Muftis. However, since Congress has 17 seats, though considerable, perhaps would have to settle for a lesser bargain.

BJP shines with a drastic increase in the seats to 11 from 1 of the last terms. All the seats of BJP have been from the Jammu area. The issues of discrimination against Jammu, Amarnath lands have helped the lotus party, and have won them a significant percentage of votes. BJP had 8 seats which was the highest till this election, in 96 elections, and have lost them all except for 1, in the following election. May be it is the time for the party to realise that performance should be the winning factor in their agenda for the election next time, rather than betting on the 'temporary' or emtional issues.

We hope that the parties take the mandate in the right spirit and work towards a 'Naya Kashmir', rather than worrying about who holds the CM throne.

Andhra: CPI's Claptrap and more

(The Andhra CPI's secretary Mr.Narayana continues his claptrap and produces enough material for the media whenever it is in the need of some news.Since an year, Narayana has perhaps been the favourite of news channels, their political jester, especially for TV-9.)

I am not sure of the media, but I became tired of Mr.Narayana. Perhaps media wouldn't be tired so easily, even if they are, he continues to entertain them with his new tricks.

Just today, he has made a statement that about 150 MLAs in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly are 'dacoits'. No proofs what so ever; sheer impresario act of pulling a rabbit out of the hat. Even, the number in Loksatta's list generally released before the elections about the contestents with criminal background is perhaps lesser than this. Ofcourse, he has make sure that the number is greater, so that he can make it into media yet again.

Just a few days back he talked about 'Maha' alliance, whose sole aim was to dismantle Congress in the coming state elections and provide a third alternative at the state level (the other aim perhaps being in news for a fornight). The speculations went around about the Left teaming up with Chiru's PRP and KCR's TRS, but finally he finally (had to) settle with the opposition major, TDP because of the Left parties alliance with TDP's chief, Mr.Chandrababu Naidu for a 'third' alternative at the Centre. And now with the elections in the corner, we see some more of the news making antics.

Watch out for more! and please dont look for facts behind those statements, else I am afraid, you might not enjoy.

Pakisthan: The cause or the effect?

(At the outset of Mr.Nawaz Sharif declaring that Mr.Ismail Kasab is undoubtfully a Pakisthani, yet another attack has been traced back to Pakisthan. Is Pakisthan, a 'rogue nation' or a country which is deeply affected by the terrorism, is perhaps the right question to be comtemplated now.)

A recent interview of one of the senior official and ex-journalist from Pakisthan in one of the news channel reveals some interesting statistics. Just this year, he states, there were about 600 major attacks in Pakistan, killing about 2000 security personnel, and people. Almost all the major cities: Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore were deeply affected by the attacks over the past one year. He says though Pakistan has not been successfull in countering terrorism as it is expected to be, it is in the best interests of Pakistan to do so since it is perhaps the worst hit nation by terrorist attacks. The effect (damage) of terrorist attacks within the territory of Pakistan quadrupled from 2006 to 2007, and continues in the same trend. About 3600 terrorist related fatalities were recorded in just 2007. The interesting statement made by him, to be noted here is that Terrorism is a serious problem for Pakistan, as Naxalism in the most parts of India and LTTE as for Srilanka. But, ofcourse this statement seems inherently flawed, since Terrorism is not just been an 'internal' problem of Pakistan (perhaps Balochistan movement is!), and it affects the outside world in a regular basis and on a large scale; Almost 100 of the major terrorist attacks across the world, since 9/11 have been traced back to Pakistanis or terrorist groups in Pakistani soil, including terror in London.

The reasons supporting the other side of the coin seem stronger. A worldwide survey released by the BBC, recently, found that Pakistan was among two nations out of 23 (the other being Egypt) – where "mixed" or "positive" feelings toward Al Qaeda (22% and 19%, respectively) outweighed negative feelings (19%). After Musharraf resigned, replaced by the ever-controversial Mr.Asif Ali Zardari, leader of the country’s only national party in the country, the Pakistan Peoples Party, winning election with overwhelming support from the three smaller provinces of NWFP, Balochistan and Sind. But Punjab, with 65 percent of the country's population, remains out of his hands, run by rival Nawaz Sharif, who refuses to take the terrorist threat seriously and befriends right-wing Islamic parties. These two reflect the present psyche of the people and ofcourse the politicians. The attacks in Balochistan (which is about 43% of the country's territory) are mostly nationalist, though some of them have terror links. The Pakistani Army Chief, General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani (former chief of ISI), who replaced General Pervez Musharaf, is suspected to have a dominating say in the Democratically formed 'liberal' Govt. led by PPP, which was witnessed in the recent controversy of ISI chief coming to India for assistance in the investigation probe. The Govt. which confirmed the house arrest of Masud Azhar (the chief of Jaish-E) immediately following the attacks, has now denied the same. These raise more brows towards the 'honesty' and 'seriousness' of Pakistani Government towards mitigating terrorism.

But, the aftermath of mumbai attacks has proved to be a litmus test of Zardari's Govt. Gven that UPA govt is sincere in holding the pressure, we would see which one is true, perhaps in the due course of time.

Antuley, Akbaruddin and Anthony!

(Hang on friends! I am not going to digress from politics to discuss some latest re-make of RGV, though my title might remind of one of the old Amitabh Bacchan's movie. Its going to be politics as always: Mr.Antuley, being our hon.ble Minority affairs minister, Mr.Akbaruddin Owaisi, the representative of Hyderabad, from MIM party and Mr.A.K. Anthony, the central defence minister.)

Following the days of attack, I happened to tune to the Assembly sessions of Andhra Pradesh. The discussion was on terrorism and subsequently security of the state, and I hoped not much of a great discussion as usual, except for a united assembly standing against the terrorism unanimously. But, things weren't as they were expected to be, since there was an escape of a suspect just the previous day, so the opposition held this against the poor policing and security measures by the State Govt. After some discussion, our representatives (I wouldn't wish to use the word 'leaders'), digressed over the topics, and we witness Mr.Akbaruddin Owaisi going on a tirade on 'Hindu terrorists' not only damaging the nation, but also provoking the minorities (read as muslims) into terrorism! Ofcourse, he also claims the BJP is one of that group of terrorists and henceforth, he concludes BJP and TDP (who happened to support NDA), will have no reason to question the Government on the terrorism issue. I, listening to this, have no words, perhaps one of my readers would help me what to comment on!

And then comes our Minister of defence, Mr.A.K.Anthony. At the point where even UK and US were warning Pakistan on a military operation against terrorism (on the Pakistani soil) if they fail to meet the demands and act as required by the present situation, our defence minister maintains his cool insouciance, and says there can be no military action against Pakisthan or POK. Ofcourse, I am not a war mongerer, but we expect a statement which demands 'actions' against the terrorism from the Pakisthani side, but not the re-assurances on 'no war'.

This 'farce' doesn't stop there. Mr.AK Antuley, the present minister of minority affairs, (perhaps after reading too many chinese news papers), senses a foul play in the murder of Mr.Karkare. Antulay seemed to have borrowed a leaf from Pakistani TV hosts who have claimed that the Mumbai attacks were the handiwork of "Hindu-Zionists". (Courtesy: TOI) In the outset of investigations leading links to a Pakisthani terrorist outfit, a MP expressing his 'sudden revelations', (perhaps even borrowing statements from the 'neighbouring country') seems in itself fishy. Perhaps the minority vote-bank?

Remembering 13th December

(After almost 7 years following the attack of Parliament, we find ourselves 'back to Square one'. Though the attack on Parliament has been foiled by brave security forces, the attack on Mumbai was 'successful' in terrorizing the whole of Nation.)

After 7 years after the attacks of the symbol of soverneignity of India, the terrorists targeted the affluent and business world. Targeting Mumbai's CST, followed by attacks of Taj and Oberoi, the terrorists have exposed the vulnerability of Mumbai when it comes to the attacks from the terrorists.

Though the NDA Goverment seemed to fail in winning the support for a world-wide war on Terror in 2001, UPA seemed to have succeeded in getting the UN (and US) to turn against Lashkar and Jaish-E. Ofcourse, clearly, the intensity of the attacks played a role.

A few things seem to be common however. Mr.Advani, the Home minister in 2001, said in a press conference on 18th Dec. 2001 , "we have received some clues about yesterday's incident, which shows that a neighbouring country, and some terrorist organisations active there behind it." Precisely the same lines were used by Mr.Manmohan Singh, the Prime Minister, addressing the post-attacks address to the Nation. The house was united for a few days on the issue of terrorism and acting with utmost sincerity to uproot the problem. POTA followed in 2002, and there is a promise of more serious actions from the UPA.

So far, so bad!

(Except for the unanimous decision by the Parliament against the attack on Mumbai, nothing seemed to have gone right from the National political standpoint.)

Be it R.R.Patil's "Chota-chota" comments, Mr.Deshmukh's "terror" tourism or Shivraj Patil's incoherent press conferences, all of these acts have attracted the same "Resignation" command from the Congress Hi-command. Thanks to Rane-Chauhan drama, perhaps the Maharastra media is slowly forgetting the Mumbai terror attacks for the time being.

Even BJP's demeanor didnt fare well. Firstly, the following day after the attacks, Mumbai's streets were filled with "Shraddhanjali" posters by almost all parties, majorly BJP and ShivSena. But what is really disturbing about it is that all the 'political Shraddhanjali' posters carried their Party's and sponsor's names, perhaps even dominating the apparent intention they were meant for. During some of the post-mortem press conferences of the recent elections, one of the senior BJP spokesman was stating that perhaps they haven't cashed on the 'Terrorism issue'. As long as they see Terrorism as yet another 'issue' to get an election-win, it really doesnt matter who really holds the sceptre.

But, we have finally witnessed a unanimous Parliament on one issue in the beginning of this Winter session. Proposal of stronger laws, establishment of federal agency and anti-terrorism schools was received well by NDA too. We will have to wait and see whether any positive action is taken, or is it yet another rhetoric of politicians.