Left’s Message to Congress

A peculiar situation is developing within the opposition I.N.D.I.A. alliance after some Left leaders suggested that Rahul Gandhi shouldn’t contest from Wayanad in the Lok Sabha polls. The reason being that the seat is being claimed by CPI and the Left constituent wants to be allowed to contest (and presumably win) the election there. Left leaders are arguing that it is more important for the Congress leader to contest from northern India or even Karnataka, and that this would send an appropriate signal of political engagement. Congress leaders from Kerala have hotly dismissed these suggestions and said Rahul is free to contest from any constituency. This may be true but if the opposition is considering contesting as an alliance then the Left’s viewpoint cannot be easily dismissed. The problem, of course, is that constituents of the alliance are also competitors as in the case of the Left and Congress in Kerala, though the two have been allies in
West Bengal where TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has a similar grouse—she says the Congress-Left pact strengthens BJP. In the last General Election, Congress did exceedingly well in Kerala where voters supporting the party felt Rahul could be a prime ministerial choice. Thereafter, the Left turned the tables on Congress in the state polls, winning a rare back-to-back victory. This time round, BJP’s gains in the recent state elections have strengthened the perception of the party being a frontrunner in the Lok Sabha polls. Left leaders are apprehensive that Congress may again benefit from a polarisation in the party’s favour, reducing the prospects of communist candidates. As it is, with the sharp decline in its fortunes in West Bengal and its exile from Tripura, the number of seats the Left can hope to win is limited. Even more so for smaller Left constituents like CPI, which must depend on the largess of a regional party like DMK for a Lok Sabha seat. The only other gateway to Parliament is being nominated for a Rajya Sabha seat through Kerala where CPM gets the first preference.

Political Dividend

The discussion on Bills relating to Jammu and Kashmir held centrestage in Parliament but the debate on additional demands for grants, which saw a discussion on the economic situation, was no less engrossing. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke at length in her reply in both Houses and set out a detailed analysis of the Indian economy which she said is in good health. Rising tax revenues, a healthy stock market, higher government capital expenditure and improved capacity utilisation in the private sector put the government in an advantageous position ahead of the Lok Sabha polls next year. Although Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s distaste for unbridled populism—endorsed by recent state elections—means major sops are ruled out, the government does have room to tweak welfare programmes. In its state manifestos, BJP offered targeted relief from inflation for those most affected by price rise by reducing the cost of cooking gas, adding cooking oil, pulses and sugar at concessional rates to PDS, and offering limited direct cash transfers to women. This helped address the unhappiness among daily wagers and farm labourers. The financial headroom available means the government has the means to do more for the poor as well as boost budgets for schemes targeted at artisans and farmers.

Divyang Scheme Grows Bigger

The better news delivered by special abilities athletes recently has turned the focus on the Modi government’s initiatives for Divyang people. The prime minister set out the framework for the interventions that he said should mean the happiness of every section of society and every citizen. The Central government has touched the lives of lakhs with development schemes through immediate and long-term measures. To make development holistic, special schemes and policies were implemented for about three crore of such population in the country who were once considered helpless. The participation of these sections in society was negligible and Modi made a sensitive call, according to a government statement, on the progress of schemes for the differently abled. “Why don’t we use the word Divyang instead of handicapped because God has given divine power to the disabled?” he had said. This led to the Accessible India Campaign and the Disability Rights Bill passed by Parliament in 2016. This has become the basis for the self-reliant life of Divyang people.

Collateral Damage

BSP MP Danish Ali became the ‘collateral damage’ of the expulsion of TMC MP Mahua Moitra from Lok Sabha for having provided access to a business group to the parliamentary questions portal that was then used to post questions about a leading corporate house. Ali has been arguing that his complaint against BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri for using foul language against him in the House had not been addressed. He stood beside Moitra during interactions with the media when the former TMC MP held him up as evidence of BJP’s vendetta. All this did not go down well with BSP chief Mayawati who has removed him as leader of the party in Lok Sabha and also suspended him. Some commentators feel this could be counter-productive for BSP but they, and perhaps Ali himself, seem to have forgotten that no one is indispensable in Mayawati’s party. BSP can always nominate a Muslim candidate in Ali’s place and, if things work out, ensure his election on the back of the party’s support in pockets of Uttar Pradesh.

Agenda 2024

There is Prime Minister Modi who remains committed to 100 per cent saturation of welfare schemes and the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra is the next step in this regard. Modi has outlined that social justice is assured only when everyone gets benefits of government schemes equally and in the same spirit. He has urged officials to work on the initiative that BJP workers are also expected to publicise, as many poor people in many states do not have adequate information about the schemes. “There are many poor people who are not able to run to various places to avail the benefits of the schemes. For how long will we continue to leave them to their fate?” he asked. A Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra is running from November 15 to January 26 next year and is a cornerstone of BJP’s poll preparations. The aim is ambitious, with the idea of reaching every village in mission mode to ensure poor and deprived people are beneficiaries of government schemes. This is an important phase in the parliamentary history of India where the government is going directly to the doorstep of citizens.

Saving Strays

The Chennai rains have become a frequent emergency in the city and this year, too, the floods caused a lot of distress to stray dogs. Encouragingly, many residents took the trouble of rescuing community dogs in boats and bringing them home. Amid the problems due to lack of drinking water and electricity, the fact that some people took the time to attend to strays was heart-warming. The heavy rains also led to the displacement of wildlife and snakes have been detected in residential areas. A crocodile was spotted briefly and then vanished and is presumably back in its regular and more familiar habitat.

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