Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter THE CORRUPT PROTEST! DEFENDING THE CORRUPT ENGINEERS! IS BMTF PROCEEDINGS AGAINST VIOLATION, AN OFFENSE?

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

THE CORRUPT PROTEST!                

DEFENDING THE CORRUPT ENGINEERS!  IS BMTF PROCEEDINGS AGAINST VIOLATION, AN OFFENSE?

For three days, the BBMP engineers held Bangaloreans to ransom protesting against the BMTF action in filing criminal complaints against 150 engineers for allowing illegal buildings, encroachment and other omissions including bogus and sub standard works. The situation became worse with the Poura Karmikas joining the protest. Consequently, the Garden City became Garbage City with thousands of tonnes of garbage on the roads. The engineers want the BMTF disbanded and withdrawal of all FIRs filed against them. It implies that the engineers do not want their illegal actions to be probed, let alone, punished.... 

The Bangalore Metropolitan Task Force headed by a senior police official was formed to prevent unauthorised constructions, encroachment of lands, probing complaints against officials for all their omissions and commissions in and around Bangalore. The BMTF is similar to the police wing of the Lokayukta. Many times, the BBMP Commissioner has referred few scams in BBMP for BMTF investigation. 

 Very recently, the BMTF probed some more scams which were on a massive scale where engineers were neck deep involved. It is an open secret that the corporators and MLAs are making the engineers to dance to their tunes. They force the engineers to look the other way when illegal constructions are taking place or to prepare the bill for works, not done physically. They also make engineers take action against their adversaries. The engineers prepare inflated bills, bogus bills or allow substandard works at the bidding of the MLAs/Corporators. 

 Allegedly, the engineers do get handsome returns for this job. It is they who collect the ‘money’ from violators and share it with Corporators. Anybody can do any damn violations or allow encroachments and go scot free by paying the ‘demanded’ money to the engineers who also collect money on behalf of the corporators. In turn, the MLAs/Corporators provide protection to the engineers in times of need. 

 It is an open secret that many of the engineers have come to BBMP on deputation from PWD and stay put in BBMP for a couple of years, make few crores and go out of BBMP to another post in another department. They do not get punished as the probes on works, do not indict them for the single reason that the probes were never impartial. Those engineers who are regular employees in BBMP have allegedly become highly powerful so much so that they dictate terms to the MLAs/Corporators. Some have even financed the elections of MLAs/Corporators. 

 But this time, the tables are turned against them with the BMTF taking up the investigations seriously, particularly after the fire incident at BBMP office. As expected the public also flooded the BMTF with complaints of large scale violations by the engineers. As the investigations progressed, the BMTF got foolproof evidences against the engineers and filed FIRs in the courts. It filed FIRs against more than 150 engineers. In fact, this is a sort of world record. In the earlier probe of Rs. 1500 crore works scams, the BMTF had filed FIRs against 30 engineers and some of them were also arrested. Interestingly, the BMTF need not have to go to the jurisdictional police stations to file complaints as the government has notified the BMTF as a police station for such purposes. 

 The FIRs against 150 engineers sent shock waves among the hundreds of engineers in BBMP. If the investigation is completed, one can be sure of another 100-150 engineers queuing up before the court to obtain bail. That is why the engineers have started the protest demanding withdrawal of FIRs. They met the BBMP Commissioner Shankaralinge Gowda and demanded restraining the BMTF from proceeding with the investigations. They wanted him to instruct the BMTF Chief Sharma to drop further investigations. Their defense, they might have done many omissions and commissions but they were done at the behest of the Corporators/MLAs. They want the BMTF to follow usual procedure adopted for taking action against the government servants like issue of show cause notice, getting their reply, appointing enquiry officer to conduct the enquiry as per the KCSR and take follow up action based on the findings of the enquiry. 

 One does not understand the rationale behind this demand. For omissions and commissions like misconduct, misappropriations etc. the departmental enquiry will be held. But in the present case, the BMTF has investigated the complaints and established prima facie case. As the offences are criminal in nature, the next logical step would be to file the FIR and proceed with prosecution. 

 In fact, the enquiry by the BMTF is a police enquiry and it is a common sense that like in any police cases, FIR has to be lodged. And after a thorough investigation, the BMTF can file charge sheet or B report depending on the outcome of the probe. As the BMTF is designated as a police Station, it cannot adopt any different method. At the maximum, the engineers can demand the BMTF to probe the cases without arresting them. Here too, it is the courts to decide the matter. It is a must for the accused engineers to get bail from the court. There is no other way. 

 The engineers have also demand that the BMTF should work under the control of the Commissioner. This is just a wishful thinking. The BMTF is an independent body with additional DGP as its head. The engineers want the post to be downgraded to IGP level so that the Commissioner can control the BMTF. Earlier also, there was a controversy over the control over the BMTF. The BMTF Chief is under the HUD and not under BBMP. 

 True, one cannot say that there are no merits in the demands of the engineers. They too have genuine grievances like dictation by the MLAs and Corporators. They have to work under the pressure of various lobbies like Tar lobby, contractor lobby, builder lobby etc. who are very powerful and have links with the highest order. The engineers in the absence of proper protection are always at the mercy of the politicians and lobbies. It is because of these compulsions, no honest engineer can work in BBMP. He will not be allowed to work honestly. At the same time, it is true that scores of engineers in connivance with political bosses and contractors have minted millions. Unless an atmosphere is created where an engineer can work honestly and without fear, nothing can improve the affairs in BBMP. 

 Whatsoever, the protests by engineers cannot be justified. Let them face the enquiry and court and come out with the truth which may help in cleansing the BBMP of looters. It will also become a warning to the prospective looters also. If they think that taking action against violations is an offence, they are mistaken as the law of the land is entirely different and they cannot have their own law or rules for game. And the engineers should realise this, the sooner, the better for them. That is all.

Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter POLITICALLY CORRECT! L.K.ADVANI’S RECENT POLITICAL ASSESSMENT SOUNDS RIGHT!

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

POLITICALLY CORRECT!      

L.K.ADVANI’S RECENT POLITICAL ASSESSMENT SOUNDS RIGHT!

The recent assessment of L.K.Advani about the possibility of a non Congress and non BJP leader becoming the PM after 2014 polls has received mixed responses. But the fact remains that Advani is right on dot with his political assessment. The Congress naturally ridiculed him for conceding BJP defeat even before preparing for electoral battle. The BJP on its part has not taken any official line over his remarks. 

 Both, Congress leading the UPA and BJP leading the NDA is sure of victory in 2014 elections. It is natural as nobody goes to polls to lose. These parties have also tied up with regional parties who have no reservations and may join any ally depending on the need and equations in the states. 

 Advani recently remarked that there is a possibility of a non-Congress and non-BJP leader becoming the PM after 2014 polls. With his remark, he apparently meant that the BJP has utterly failed to capitalise on the failures of UPA-2 to mould the public opinion against the UPA. 

 The UPA government has not satisfied the common man by bringing down the prices to a reasonable level. Rather, it is spending lakhs of crores towards cheap and populist scheme gimmicks like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee scheme subsidy to the BPL etc. which has become money spinners to unscrupulous politicians and corrupt babus. On the contrary, if these lakhs of crores are utilised to fund self employment in rural areas by encouraging handicrafts, micro industries etc. and providing a fair market to the products, people would have immensely benefitted. 

 Whatsoever, if the elections are held in the near future, there is bound to be a political crisis as both the leading parties along with their alliances are facing crisis individually and collectively both at state and central level. 

 The Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already requested Sonia Gandhi to relieve him from the PM post and he may retire from politics before 2014, if not earlier. The Congress is now looking at Rahul Gandhi, but his track record is not encouraging. The Congress may also pump in the services of Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka Vadra, but only time will tell whether she can successfully pull the threads for Congress. 

 The Congress allies in UPA are also playing truant. The TMC of Mamata Bannerji has almost severed its ties. The same is the case with NCP of Sharad Pawar which, the other day, had almost withdrawn out of the government and retraced the decision at the last minute. The DMK of M.Karunanidhi may continue but it will not benefit either of the parties. By all accounts, the Congress is going to the election battle with crippled legs. It will be a miracle if it retains its present strength. 

 And what about the BJP led NDA? The BJP, a holding political outfit of RSS, does not have inspiring leadership as their tall leader L.K.Advani has been totally sidelined. The BJP’s national President Nitin Gadkari has not shown any leadership qualities and yet, he is nominated a President for the second term by the RSS going to the extent of amending the constitution of the party. Gadkari has failed to contain indiscipline, revolt by party leaders both at state and central level. Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jaitley etc. are mere orators and not leaders and cannot win seats for the BJP. In many of the BJP strong hold state, there is severe infighting. In Gujarat, Keshubhai Patel has resigned and floated his own party. Former CM Vasundharaje Scindia too does not care for the High Command. In Karnataka, the BJP has changed three CMs in a matter of one year. It had kneeled before former CM Yeddyurappa and at his instance, removed Sadananda Gowda who was doing a good job as CM. This alone speaks volumes about the quality of BJP leadership. 

 What about the NDA allies? The BJD of Naveen Patnaik in Orissa has already severed its alliance two years back. The JD(U) of Nitish Kumar which is ruling in Bihar with BJP, is also moving away from BJP. In the Presidential elections, it voted for Congress candidate Pranab Mukherji. In fact, Nitish Kumar has threatened to severe the links if BJP projects Gujarat CM Narendra Modi as the PM candidate in the 2014 elections. The Shiva Sena is feeling uncomfortable in the BJP’s company in recent times. The BJP may eye Jayalalitha’s AIADMK in TN, but here too, nobody can read Jayalalitha’s mind. Jayalalitha was an ally of NDA and she withdrew the support on flimsy ground and saw the toppling of Vajpayee government. 

 The biggest challenge facing the BJP led NDA is the PM candidate. L.K.Advani may not lead the campaign as the PM candidate and there is limited choice for BJP to go to polls without PM candidate or project Narendra Modi as the PM candidate. If Narendra Modi is projected as the PM candidate, Nitish Kumar will surely pull out from NDA. In fact, the JD(U) is demanding Nitish Kumar as the PM candidate. By all accounts, the NDA will be lucky if it can manage its present strength. 

 So, neither Congress nor BJP leading UPA and NDA respectively is in a position to get a majority in the 2014 elections. It is this hard reality that Advani has brought to focus in his assessment of the political situation. 

 What about the Third Front which may be formed by regional parties which are not in UPA or NDA? The left front may take the lead with SP, BSP, TDP, JDS and other parties forming the Third Front. Even AIADMK may join them. In the event of UPA-NDA not getting majority, they have to look to the Third Front support for formation of the government. And the Third Front may even demand the PM post with either UPA or NDA giving outside support or participatory support.

 It is this scenario that Advani had tried to put before the nation. Arguably, nobody can predict the political developments in the next one and half years, but Advani’s assessment was based on practical and ground reality. His assessment cannot be faulted. 

And that is all.

Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter THE CLASH OF THE TITANS! SADANANDA TAKES YEDURAPPA HEAD ON, BJP’S INFIGHTING HITS NEW LOW

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

THE CLASH OF THE TITANS! 

SADANANDA TAKES YEDURAPPA HEAD ON, BJP’S INFIGHTING HITS NEW LOW 

 The ever smiling D.V.Sadananda Gowda who stepped down as CM smiling, is an angry man now a days. After keeping low profile for few days, he has started paying back B.S.Yeddyurappa in the same coin. Sadananda is now directly attacking Yedurappa and accusing him of many things. He had even challenged Yedurappa to finish him off politically. The other day, he accused Yedurappa and his cohorts of making efforts to fix him in one or the other cases in the Lokayukta Court. Sadananda has thrashed many claims of Yedurappa about him swearing to hand over the CM Post within six months etc. As on now, the feud between Sadananda and Yedurappa is getting uglier by every passing day... 

Sadananda Gowda became the CM of Karnataka after Yedurappa was forced to resign over mining scandal. Thereafter, Sadananda, asserted his authority as the CM and provided a sort of good governance much to the chagrin of Yedurappa. 

 Yedurappa and his group allegedly started fingering Sadananda and simply refused to treat him as the CM. Allegedly, another main reason was that Sadananda, who was asked by the RSS and BJP High Command to provide a clean government had refused to clear ‘big deals’ of Yedurappa and his loyal ministers. Frustrated thus, Yedurappa made many a tantrums to force the High Command to remove him as the CM. Reeling under Yedurappa’s blackmail, the BJP High Command asked Sadananda to step down and he obliged. 

 Sadananda whose smiling face is his trade mark is not a light weight politician. He has worked as the Deputy leader of the opposition, MP and State BJP President for four years. It was during his tenure as State BJP President, the BJP and Yedurappa tasted their first political power under a coalition government with JD(S) and later came to power on its own in 2008. This is not a mean achievement for Sadananda as State BJP President. But he never took credit and attributed it to thousands of party workers, unlike Yedurappa who is boasting that he has built the party in the state and he alone had brought the party to power! 

 After stepping down from the CM post, Sadananda has kept a low profile except pressurising the BJP high command for an equitable share in the power for his group of loyal ministers and legislators. High command has also indicated State BJP President Post for Sadananda as K.S.Eswarappa is made Deputy CM now. This has caused heart burns to Yedurappa who badly wants the post for himself. Sadananda retaliated by demanding heavy and powerful portfolios for his loyalists, which were held by Yedurappa loyalists. And Yedurappa is resisting the demand very hard. Yedurappa who was smiling within for having toppled Sadananda and installing his recently converted loyalist Jagadish Shettar as the CM had not thought of Sadananda fighting back. But, Sadananda is hitting him hard. He is not prepared to allow Yedurappa to become the state BJP President and is hitting back at Yedurappa for all his misdeeds, and posing himself as the only leader who built the party in the state and all alone brought it to power. Yedurappa often charged Sadananda of following HD Deve Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy to sideline him. But, Sadananda has openly challenged him to prove one such instance and he will retire from politics. 

 Sadananda is harmless to BJP and will obey the high command without any question. He also stated that he desires no posts as the BJP had given him everything in life. He was made a MLA, MP, State BJP President and CM. This was a direct attack on Yedurappa who claims that he is everything in BJP and refused to resign from the CM post when asked by the High Command. 

 Sadananda took strong exception to Yedurappa’s tirade against his own BJP government in the budget session. Yedurappa, had condemned the government for inactions in handling the drought. He demanded waiving of all agriculture loans and the CM Jagadish Shettar subsequently announced waiving of farmers’ loan up to 25,000 which costed the state about 3000 crores. And to raise these 3000 crores, Jagadish Shettar hiked the VAT by 0.5% from August! This is just like ‘Robbing Peter to pay Paul’. 

 Sadananda in this case took Yedurappa head on. He maintained that if he was the CM, he would not have waived the loan at the behest of Yedurappa as it involves discussions, consultations and deliberation with the officials about ways and means to mobilise such huge money. The action of Jagadish Shettar in responding immediately to Yedurappa’s ‘loan waiver’ demand has shown him in poor light. Jagadish Shettar has thus belittled the sanctity of budget itself where every rupee is accounted for. Moreover it is not Yedurappa’s or Jagadish Shettar’s money, it is the tax payers’ money. 

 Further, the political assessment of L.K.Advani about the possibility of a non UPA, non NDA PM at the centre after the 2014 polls has also become the boiling point between Yedurappa and Sadananda. Sadananda supports the assessment, whereas, Yedurappa is furious because Advani has also touched the Karnataka BJP affairs. He has written a stinging letter to Advani demanding reconsideration of his assessment and challenged him to visit Karnataka to see for himself Yedurappa’s popularity. The BJP leaders are shocked at Yedurappa’s audacity to write such arrogant letter to Advani, the tallest leader of BJP. 

 Sadananda is now openly making allegations about Yedurappa and his corruption studded rule of 3 years three months. He has stated that he was only proposed by Yedurappa, but, the BJP MLAs elected him as their leader and the High Command made him the CM. 

 Sadananda has charged Yedurappa of making efforts through his henchmen to collect property documents related to Sadananda, his wife and other family members. The intention was to file a case against him in the Lokayukta Court, through set up persons to claim that Sadananda too is facing criminal charges and as such he should not be made the state BJP President! 

 Yedurappa has argued that Sadananda has betrayed him by not handing over the CM post to him as agreed. He also talked of the vow Sadananda had taken in this regard before the Gods. Sadananda simply rubbishes this charge and says that he had assured Yedurappa of handing over the CM post within six months if Yedurappa is cleared of the charges by the courts! 

 The open war of words between Yedurappa and Sadananda has taken everybody by surprise. Yedurappa is making every effort to become the CM again, but, the CBI probe, the cases in the Lokayukta Court etc. have forced him to clamor for real power. He has criticised everybody from the state BJP President to the BJP National President and now has shown the audacity to take on L.K.Advani also. And Sadananda is paying him in the same coin. Tit for tat. 

That is all!

Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter THE FALL OF THE LEGEND! ANNA TEAM DISBAND, WILL ENTER POLITICS!

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

THE FALL OF THE LEGEND! 

 ANNA TEAM DISBAND, WILL ENTER POLITICS! 

 As long as India Against Corruption movement led by Anna Hazare was a social movement, people showed support. Once the IAC became India Against Congress, people started distancing. When Anna Team proclaimed that they are above parliament and started dictating terms to the parliament it lost political support from the opposition. When the Anna Team’s movement for the establishment for Jan Lokpal Bill turned into targeting selected political leaders it lost the relevance. The Indefinite fast undertaken by the Anna Team including one a week back, were simply ignored by people. And now, Anna Team which has abandoned the Fast and the IAC, have opted for formation of a political party, betraying the political ambition of the Anna Team. 

THE BEGINNING FIRE! 

 History repeats, they say, and they also say that the second time, it is farce. In 1975 Loknayak Jaya Prakash, Narayan, started the fight against corruption and arbitrary actions of the then Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi. Jayaprakash, a respected leader had shunned power. He was a tall figure even during the Freedom movement and his name itself was sufficient to the people. He started the Nav Nirman Movement. 

 The Nav Nirman movement which was first limited to Bihar very soon spread across the nation. Interestingly the Nav Nirman movement was the offshoot of an agitation of Hostel students in Patna who protested steep hike in their monthly fees. This simple incident resulted in the resignation of Bihar CM Abdul Gafoor a politician known for his simple life and honesty. But the Bihar government was full of corrupt ministers. The movement acquired national dimensions for the simple reason that Jayaprakash led the movement. 

 Soon, Trade unions, RSS and opposition political who were against each other, joined the Nav Nirman movement and from there on, it was known as JP movement. The main target of JP movement was corruption and it struck a chord with the people. At one point of time, it looked as if the entire country was pitched against Smt. Indira Gandhi, her Congress and its corruption. 

 EMERGENCY & THE DOWNFALL! 

 Unable to fight the unrest, Smt Gandhi imposed emergency. Consequently, the 1977 elections witnessed the groundswell of support to JP movement and the people gave a fitting reply by defeating the Congress. JP masterminded the unification of majority of opposition parties by forming the Janata party. Once Janata Party came to power, JP distanced again from politics. As the JP movement became political, naturally it could not survive for long and the Janata party split into many groups. Jansangh broke away and formed its new version BJP. People, who taught Smt Gandhi a bitter lesson in 1977, chose to elect her in the 1980 snap polls. The moral of JP movement -as long as the JP movement remained a movement to weed out corruption a social evil, people backed it completely. And once the JP movement got converted into Janata party, it lost the relevance. Today, nobody talks of JP. Interestingly, JP had at that time itself admitted his admiration for Hitler! 

HISTORY REPEATS! 

 And 37 years later, we are facing the similar situation. Corruption has become synonymous with government. Central ministers, state Chief Ministers, ministers etal are charged with criminal cases for looting lakhs of crores of rupees. Whether it is Congress or BJP or DMK or any other party for that matter which are governing the states and the centre, there are no exceptions. One can count honest politicians by the fingers. No political party has done anything to fight the menace of corruption. And what about the bureaucrats? The bureaucrats have become the other side of the coin of political corruption. Even defense is not spared. 

 Of course, politics has been highly criminalised and commercialised. More than 50% of our MPs, MLAs etc. have criminal background. The elections have become cost prohibitive where only people with money and muscle can contest and win the elections. Today, a candidate for Assembly seat has to spend not less than five crores! There may be rare exceptions to this general rule. 

 There is the urgent need for a tall leader who could provoke the people to fight this cancer of corruption. But there seems to be no one in sight like JP who could lead the people to fight the rot that has set in the vitals of the government and the society as well. 

 THE NEED! 

 It is not that there were not attempts at forming an anti graft body to tackle corruption at the high levels. As far as bureaucratic wing is concerned, there is CVC which covers central government employees. In fact, the central government way back in the eighties decided on the Lokpal to cover even the politicians in power at the centre. Every time, the Bill was introduced, the parliament used to be dissolved. At the state level, many states have introduced Lokayukta to fight the grafts, which has jurisdiction over bureaucrats and politicians in power including the Chief Minister. But the Lokpal at the centre has remained a mirage. 

 It is only in last year, the central government took up the Lokpal issue seriously. It drafted the Lokpal Bill which is nothing but a make believe. It had no teeth. As per the draft bill, the Lokpal can investigate cases referred by the Speaker of the Loksabha and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. It can only submit its findings to Speaker/Chairman. And there is no provision to make the report binding on the government. 

 THE BIRTH OF ANNA! 

 It is at this juncture, that Anna Hazare, a social worker in Maharastra came to the fore. Anna Hazare, a military drop out was known only in Maharastra for his fight against few corrupt ministers. In fact, Anna Hazare was dragged to the fore by few retired officials like a former policewoman Kiran Bedi, a former IRS official Arvind Kejrival who is also an RTI activist, former law minister Shanthi Bushan, his son Prashanth Bhushan etc. They named the movement - India Against Corruption and Anna Hazare was declared the undisputed leader of IAC. 

 Anna demanded the introduction of Jan Lokpal Bill which was prepared by Bhushans, Karnataka Lokayukta Santhosh Hegde and other legal personalities. The Anna team rejected the government’s draft Lokpal Bill, lock, stock, and barrel. To demand the implementation of Jan Lokpal Bill, Anna sat on an indefinite fast in Maharastra. The Anna Team has used the TV Channels, high tech communications to get the support to the movement. It is no wonder that the IT people formed the majority of Anna supporters. The TV Channels provided the backbone to the IAC. 

 The unprecedented publicity received by Anna had unnerved the UPA government. It dispatched two senior ministers to meet Anna and invite him to Delhi. As Anna is a primary school dropout, he was not accustomed to nitty gritty of discussions particularly the legal issues. The government formed a committee of 10 members of which 5 are from Anna Team and the rest is from government to draft the Lokpal Bill. Anna’s team included Bhushans, Santosh Hegde, Kejrival and Anna himself. 

 ANTI GOVERNMENT STAND! 

 From the very word go, the Anna Team played politics. As the government was represented by five ministers among whom Pranab Mukherji was made the Chairman, Anna team wanted equal share. It forced to the government to make Shanthi Bhushan the Co-Chairman. While the government went a mile further to accommodate many of the features in Anna’s Jan Lokpal Bill, the Anna Team was stubborn that their version of the Jan Lokpal Bill be finalised. Finally, the Committee failed to come to a common draft. 

 As such the government went ahead and cleared its reformed Lokpal Bill. Once it became known that the government was going to place the Bill in the Parliament, the Anna Teams was furious. In fact Anna set a deadline to the government to enforce his Jan Lokpal Bill before August 15th last year and threatened to undertake fast unto death. The Anna Team started enlisting the support of the opposition parties to their Jan Lokpal Bill. Amidst all these, Anna and his teams never uttered a word against the unimaginable corruption in BJP ruled Karnataka and Gujarat where the CM Narendra Modi has not cared to appoint Lokayukta for the last ten years! The idea behind this selective attitude is to get the support of BJP to the Jan Lokpal Bill. 

 Anna Team was not prepared to tolerate any delay in the Jan Lokpal Bill. When the parliament was in Session, Anna undertook indefinite fast. The arrest of Anna provided further high velocity publicity to Anna Team. The government released him unable to withstand the public pressure and media campaign. Anna continued the fast and started dictating terms to the parliament. Kiran Bedi coined the word ‘Anna is India and India is Anna’. Not to be left out. Arvind Kejrival asserted that Anna is above parliament. 

 Of course, there were hunger strikes in many capitals. In Karnataka, Santosh Hegde led the movement in Freedom Park. College students took to streets, IT-BT people took part in the movement. When Anna’s health started deteriorating, the parliament discussed the issue. It is another matter that the Parliament was not prepared to forego the sovereignty of the parliamentary democracy at the behest of Anna and his Team. However, the parliament requested Anna to end the fast promising to take up the Lokpal issue. Anna ended the fast. 

 By this time, Anna had already become an icon. Still, Anna movement simply did not spread to the rural India. It remained an urban oriented middle class people’s movement. After the Fast was over, Anna went back to his village. Anna wanted to prove his hold in Maharastra also. Another ‘fast’ was arranged in Mumbai, but the response was very poor. Not even hundreds attended the meeting. The venue was booked by Anna Team for several lakhs for over a week. But the poor attendance forced the Anna Team to end the meeting the next day. In fact, Anna Team was not prepared to pay the ground rent for the venue. It went to the High Court for directing the Mumbai Corporation to give the ground to it free of cost, but, the HC which threw out the Writ even had passed severe strictures against the Anna teams demand. 

 THE BOOMERANG! 

 Whatsoever, Anna team continued their tirade against the government and other democratic institutions. Sometime later, the misdeeds of few members of the core group of Anna Team started surfacing. More than anything, questions were raised about the source of crores of rupees spent on organising the IAC movement. Then came the stories about how many corporate houses have opened their purse strings to fund the movement. At the same time, the political ambition of few core group members also surfaced. From targeting the corruption as a whole which Anna Team did it in the early days, the Anna Team started targeting individual, politicians in power. And the Anna team took sufficient care not to raise the issue of corruption in BJP ruled governments.

Amidst all these, Anna’s foot in the mouth syndrome has not gone down well among the urban people, in particular his advice to beat the people who drink. When Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar was slapped by a man, Anna endorsed the action! All these had dented the image of Anna and also his team mate. 

 THE FLOP SHOW!

 This time Anna Team had threatened to undertake final war for enforcing the Jan Lokpal Bill and also for taking action against 15 central ministers whom the Anna team had charged with corruption. In fact, Anna was to begin the fast three days after his team starts the fast at Janata Mantar in Delhi. The Anna Team had made elaborate arrangements to hold the Fast in Delhi and other state capitals and expected lakhs of people to participate in the movement. They expected a sort of revolution. They also expected to force the dissolution of the Parliament and midterm poll by the sheer power of the movement. 

 But all their calculations went awry. On the first day, there were not even 300 people. The same was repeated on the second day. It is at this time, Baba Ramdev, a Yoga guru arrived to the venue with more than five thousand of his disciples. And Anna too came with Baba and that saved the face. The government simply refused to talk to the Anna Team, as their demands were too high. Moreover the Anna Team refused even to talk with the Prime Minister himself. Such was their arrogance. 

 THE POLITICAL MOVE! 

 After a week, the Anna Team have realised the bitter truth that is, people are no more with them. Finally, Anna Team announced the decision to form a political party to get to power so that they can bring their Jan Lokpal Bill. The Anna Team has showed its true political colour. Interestingly, the Anna Team have invited the reaction of the people to their political arrangement through Facebook, Twitter, e-mail etc. What they do not know is that majority of the people have no access to hitech communication. Curiously, the Media campaign was very conspicuous by its absence. 

 To put it bluntly, the Anna Team’s movement against corruption started as a social movement and has turned into a political activity. It is worthwhile to remind them of the JP movement in the seventies. 

And that is all.

Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter THE HERO OF A DOUBLE ROLE! DOUBLE NAME AND SIGNATURES OF EX-KPSC SECRETARY M N GURURAJ RAO, CAN A SERIOUS OFFENCE BE CLOSED BY AN AFFIDAVIT?

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

THE HERO OF A DOUBLE ROLE! 

DOUBLE NAME AND SIGNATURES OF EX-KPSC SECRETARY M N GURURAJ RAO, CAN A SERIOUS OFFENCE BE CLOSED BY AN AFFIDAVIT?

M.N.Gururaja Rao who recently retired as Assistant Secretary in KPSC, used to operate and function as M.N.Gururaj in Lokseva Housing Society in the capacity of Hon. Secretary for the last so many years. On the face of it, it is a criminal offence for a government servant to use two names - one for his government service and another for Housing Co-op. Society where crores of rupees are involved. As long as he was in KPSC, Gururaj managed to hush up his double name and double signature. And the KPSC Secretary V.B.Patil acting on the affidavit of Gururaj stating that both the names - MN Gururaj and M.N.Gururaja Rao are one and the same, has closed the case! This is simply unprecedented... 

M.N.Gururaja Rao, till recently the Assistant Secretary in KPSC, is also the Hon. Secretary of the Lokaseva employees Housing Co-operative Society. The Society was floated by the employees of the Commission, who number around 300. The Society after allotting sites to the members of the Commission should have been winded up as it had served its purpose of providing sites to the employees of the commission. But the society is into real estate business in a big way. It has formed thousands of sites to be sold to general public by soliciting deposits from the public and workers of factories promising sites. 

 And MN Gururaja Rao is operating in the name of M.N.Gururaj, officially in the Society. A government official, as a rule can not use different names except the official name. The official name in the records of the Commission is M.N.Gururaja Rao. As such he cannot use any other name except his official name any where, let alone the Housing Co-op. Society. But he is using the name of M.N.Gururaj in the society affairs. 

 There were complaints against Gururaj for using double names but he managed to keep all the complaints under wraps. One such complaint was given to the Home Secretary who in turn referred the matter to the KPSC for a report and action. V.B.Patil, the IAS official who has come to the Commission as the Secretary for the second time, is also dependent on Gururaj. Allegedly, Patil also has his own share of scams in KPSC and as such he has to protect Gururaj. A report therefore was sent by Patil to the Home Secretary white washing the offence of Gururaj. If one takes a look at Patil’s report, one will be surprised at the level the officials go to protect Gururaj. 

 In fact, Patil has admitted that MN Gururaja Rao was using the name MN Gururaj in the affairs of the society. He exceeds his brief by stating that he was known as MN Gururaj by everybody in KPSC and that is why he had used ‘MN Gururaj’ in the society. As both MN Gururaja Rao and MN Gururaj is one and the same, as such there is no offence. Patil further states that Gururaj had submitted an affidavit sworn before the Notary stating that he uses both the names. MN Gururaja Rao in KPSC and MN Gururaj in the Society and so there is no offence whatsoever. Patil goes on to mention that the complainant Suresh Jain who was also a member of the society has not objected to the practice in the post. He then provides ‘clean chit’ to Gururaj as far as the society is concerned and states that the society has distributed sites to the members after following all the legal formalities! 

 One should ‘pity’, Patil does not know the facts or is suppressing it in his zeal to protect Gururaj. Had he taken a cursory glance at the society affairs, he would have realised that Gururaj’s very functioning as Hon.Secretary is illegal as the Co-op. Act and Rules does not allow anybody to hold Honorary Secretary post! The law stipulates that only ‘Paid Secretary’ should work in the Society! 

 Whatsoever, Patil has made an appeal to the Home Secretary to close the complaint in view of the affidavit submitted by Gururaj. After committing the offence for all these 20 years, Gururaj submits an affidavit proclaiming that he uses both the names. This is only an afterthought. Merely submitting an affidavit does not absolve him of the crime he committed all these years. If one were to take a look at his signatures as MN Gururaj Rao as Assistant Secretary in KPSC and MN Gururaj as Secretary of the Housing Society, one can make out difference. 

 Patil has not answered the basic question, whether a government official can use different names and signatures? Even though there is the absence of ‘Rao’ in the other name, this is significant. Even if a customer wants to slightly change his signature in a Bank, he has to submit the new signature. If a person has to alter or change his name, he has to submit an affidavit before he changes to other name. In case of government servants, the alteration - change has to be gazetted, not once but many times. 

 More than anything, Gururaj should have obtained permission from the Commission before he shortened his name in the society affairs. As such the offence becomes serious as it is done knowingly. 

 Interestingly, the Lokaseva Housing Co-op. Society President had also addressed a letter to the Secretary of the commission (Patil) stating that only the word ‘Rao’ was left out from the records of the Society! This is absurd as right from the registration of the society to registration of sale deeds in favour of purchasers, it is the same ‘MN Gururaj’ all the way. One can not even imagine that an educated government servant will go to the extent of using the official name with ‘Rao’ missing in official documents. 

 The society President B.V.Nagarajaiah allegedly influenced Patil to submit a one sided report to Home Secretary in favour of Gururaj. Infact, Nagarajaiah also has stated that nobody has raised any objection to Gururaj using two names all these years. He too had poured venom against Suresh Jain, the complainant and had dubbed him as mischievous etc. 

 Patils report to the Home Secretary is suspect. The entire issue revolves round MN Gururaja Rao, an Assistant Secretary in KPSC using another name MN Gururaj while functioning as Hon. Secretary of Lokseva Housing Co-op. Society, which is not permissible in law governing public servants. Patil should have submitted a report only on this point, that is, whether Gururaj is using two names, one in KPSC and another in Housing Society. On the face of it Patil admits the fact that Gururaj is using two names but tries to defend the same. He says that Gururaj is known to everybody as MN Gururaj! 

 Just because nobody objected to use of two names by Gururaj that does not mean that law should not be allowed to have its way. 

That is all.

Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter THE ILLEGAL AUTHORITY DY. CM POST IS IMMORAL, ILLEGAL AND UNETHICAL

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

THE ILLEGAL AUTHORITY      

DY. CM POST IS IMMORAL, ILLEGAL AND UNETHICAL

The constitution provides Prime Minister and Council of Ministers in the central government and Chief Minister and the council of Ministers at the state level. There is no provision for Deputy Prime Minister or Deputy Chief Minister in the constitution. But still, the Dy. CM system has come to stay. The Dy. CM post at the state level has become a reality despite there being no sanction of law to the post. And now, Karnataka has created history in having two Dy. CMs and one may not be surprised if some more are made Dy. CMs.... 

It all started when Indira Gandhi designated the then Finance Minister Morarji Desai as the Deputy Prime Minister. When asked why she made him Dy. PM, Mrs. Gandhi laughed at the question and stated that there is no provision for the Dy. PM post but she made him Dy. PM just to satisfy his ego. She clarified that Dy. PM Post does not enjoy any more or special powers than a Minister! Even in oath taking, as there is no constitutional provision, the person who is to take the oath whether as Dy. PM or a Dy. CM, has to take the same as a Minister. 

 In 1977 when Morarji Desai became the PM, he had two Dy. PMs. L.K.Advani also became the Dy. PM under AB Vajpayee, during the NDA regime. Since then the UPA government has not allowed the Dy. PM post. But at the state level, the Dy. CM post has become a sort of prestige and also a factor in power sharing among the coalition parties. 

 The Dy. CM post has reached to a ridiculous level in recent years. The Punjab CM appointed his son as the Dy. CM. In Tamil Nadu, the ex Chief Minister Karunanidhi had appointed his son Stalin as the Dy. CM. This precedent is growing by every passing year. In our state we have two Dy. CMs catering to different major castes. The CM and the two Dy. CMs represent three major communities in the state. 

 It was during Veerappa Moily regime, the Dy. CM post was first created for S.M.Krishna. The creation of the Dy. CM post resulted in creation of another power centre. 

 In 1994 when HD Deve Gowda became the CM, his bête noire R.K.Hegde forced him to appoint JH Patel as the Dy. CM. When Deve Gowda became the Prime Minister in 1996, JH Patel became the CM and Deve Gowda played his cards to make Siddaramaiah, the Dy. CM. 

 In 1999, SM Krishna became the CM with Mallikarjuna Kharge, a strong contender for Deputy Post. But, Krishna, who had experienced the Dy. CM post and its advantages to develop a parallel power centre, firmly rejected it. 

 In 2004 elections, Congress formed a coalition government with JD(S) with CM of Congress and deputy Siddramaiah of JD(S). When Siddaramaiah defected to the Congress, he was removed from JD(S)LP leadership and Dy. CM post by the JD(S) and MP Prakash was replaced as the Dy. CM. 

 Then, HD Kumaraswamy took revenge on Congress by withdrawing the support to Dharam Singh and later formed a coalition with BJP. The power sharing formula between JD(S) and BJP was peculiar. The remaining period of 40 months was to be divided into 20 months each in which, Kumaraswamy would become the CM and B.S.Yeddyurappa the Dy. CM for the first 20 months. The heavy portfolios were to be equally distributed and at the end of the 20 months, Yedurappa was to become CM, Dy. CM would be from JD(S) and the portfolios of the cabinet ministers will be swapped. Everybody knows the history which resulted in BJP coming to power on its own in 2008 and B.S.Yeddyurappa becoming the CM. 

 Yedurappa after becoming CM simply refused to make anybody as the Dy. CM. He ruled (ruined, of course) the state for over three years and had to go because of the scams and controversies. He however ensured that Sadananda Gowda succeeded him as the CM besides avoiding a Dy. CM under Sadananda. 

 In fact, the BJP has a declared policy of not having a Dy. CM post in states ruled by the party. This policy has avoided the growth of a parallel power centre and leadership. Only in cases where the government is in alliance with other parties, the BJP relaxes its stand and allows Dy. CM post for its party or the coalition partner depending upon the strength of the parties. But it has not allowed the Dy. CM post in BJP ruled states at any cost. 

 However, BJP has relaxed its policy in case of Karnataka where it is the ruling party. More shockingly, it has allowed the creation of two Dy. CM posts! There can be no better example for political hypocrisy and double standards than this. The BJP high command has betrayed its political bankruptcy in the episode by enforcing the CM Jagadish Shettar to have two Dy. CM posts. 

 Another political aspect is the caste factor in the Dy. CM drama. When Sadananda was asked to resign succumbing to Yedurappa’s blackmail, the Vokkaligas took to street raising danger of Vokkaliga votes slipping away from the BJP. To assuage the hurt feeling of the Vokkaligas, R.Ashoka was made the Dy. CM. The Chief Minister post went to Jagadish Shettar, a lingayath. In fact, the BJP national President Nitin Gadkari publicly admitted that Jagadish Shettar was made the CM only because he is a lingayath leader! And what about the state’s third largest populated community, Kuruba? For them, K.S.Eswarappa, a Kuruba leader was made the Dy. CM. 

 The entire episode not only violates the secular base of the constitution but is also politically unethical and immoral. Interestingly, both R.Ashoka and K.S.Eswarappa took oath as Deputy Chief Minister which is a non existing post in the constitution. Strictly speaking, these two Dy. CMs cannot participate in the cabinet meetings if the law of the land is applied. One wonders how the Governor allowed them to take oath as Dy. CMs when there are no such posts.

 In conclusion, the two Dy. CM posts - given to two major communities is not only immoral, unethical but illegal also. It is time some conscious people get this issue adjudicated in the High Court or the Supreme Court. 

That is all.

Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter DODGING THE WATCHDOG HC CRITICES GOVERNMENT FOR NOT APPOINTING LOKAYUKTA, GIVES DEADLINE

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

DODGING THE WATCHDOG! 

HC CRITICES GOVERNMENT FOR NOT APPOINTING LOKAYUKTA, GIVES DEADLINE 

 

The High Court has strongly criticised the state government for not appointing the Lokayukta which is vacant since September last year. With a headless Lokayukta, the anti-corruption body has become defunct, with Upa Lokayukta Justice Majige functioning as the Lokayukta. Just to cover up the absence of the Lokayukta, the Lokayukta police are in the news by conducting raids on few officials and netting some prize catches. 

 The HC gave a few days time to the government to start the Lokayukta selection process. But, the government however, is dragging its feet in appointment after the then Chief Minister B.S.Yeddyurappa was forced to resign over the Lokayukta Santosh Hegde’s report on mining scam. 

 Santosh Hegde retired on August 2nd and Yedurappa had already appointed former Supreme Court Judge Shivaraj Patil as the new Lokayukta, who but had to resign in September over his land scandal. By then, Yedurappa had also become ex-CM replaced by DV Sadananda Gowda who then recommended Justice Bannurmath to the post, but, the Governor rejected the recommendation as Bannurmath too had a history of site scam. 

 In the meanwhile, Sadananda government sponsored Justice Chandrashekaraiah to the second Upa-Lokayukta post which was questioned in the High Court. The High Court quashed the appointment of Chandrashekaraiah as the Upa Lokayukta and even laid down guidelines to the government for appointment of Lokayukta and Upa Lokayukta. 

 As per the HC guidelines, the Chief Justice of the High Court will recommend a name for the Loka/Upa Lokayukta post. The name should be cleared by a panel consisting of Chief Minister, Leaders of opposition in the Assembly and Council and the Presiding officers of the Assembly and Council. If they do not agree on the name recommended by the Chief Justice, then another name has to be sent to the panel. To simply put, it is the Chief Justice whose selection is final. The selection panel has no power except to reject the recommendations and requesting the CJ to send another name. 

 On the face of it, the guidelines by the HC has completely changed the selection process. Till then, the Loka/Upa Lokayukta was appointed by the Chief Minister after consulting the CJ, leaders of opposition and presiding officers of the two houses. In this process the decision of the Chief Minister was final. He may agree to the recommendations of the other members including CJ or choose his own nominee. In fact, after Shivaraj Patil’s resignation, Sadananda refused to call the meeting of the panel members and asked them names of their choice. For courtesy sake, he requested the CJ to suggest names and finally chose Bannurmath to the Lokayukta post which was rejected by the governor who asked him to suggest another name. 

 Before Sadananda could zero on the alternative, the HC quashed the appointment of the Upa-Lokayukta Chandrashekaraiah. Further, its guidelines empowered the CJ as the final authority over the appointment of Lokayukta and Upa Lokayukta which is definitely a bad news for the political authority of the government. Naturally, the government has appealed against the judgement and guidelines of the HC to the Supreme Court which will hear the matter in a few days.

 On the contrary, the HC order came as a blessing for the Sadananda government which deferred the Lokayukta appointment on the plea of the appeal in the Supreme Court. Their only excuse was that they are not agreeable to the HC guidelines and will wait for the SC order in this regard. The government took a long time in filing the appeal in SC. Had the government wanted, it would have requested the SC for an urgent hearing as the appeal is in regard to the appointment of head of the anti-corruption body. The SC also would have obliged as it involves official fight against corruption. 

 During Yedurappa’s regime, Karnataka was ranked No.1 in the country for its glorious corruption level. More than a dozen ministers are facing Lokayukta probe and even during the Sadananda rule, the corruption continued but with some checks. Allegedly, Sadananda being personally honest, did not clear major ‘revenue earning’ files of few ministers which eventually led to his removal as the CM replaced by Jagadish Shettar, the personal choice of Yedurappa. 

 The caste factor too played a major role in the appointment of Lokayukta/Upa Lokayukta. Even before Santosh Hegde retired, Yedurappa had appointed lingayaths Shivaraj Patil and Majige as the Lokayukta and Upa Lokayukta respectively. When Shivaraj Patil resigned, another lingayath Bannurmath was proposed, but was rejected by the Governor. In fact, the government was adamant that it is Bannurmath or nobody. The state BJP President KS Eswarappa abused the Governor bluntly telling him to clear the name or get out of Raj Bhavan, but the governor stood his ground. 

 The other day, the HC took serious view of the government’s inaction and brushed aside the government’s stand of waiting till the SC gives order. The HC gave deadline of 48 hours to start the Lokayukta selection process. In the meanwhile, Santosh Hegde also threatened to undertake ‘fast unto death’ demanding the appointment of the Lokayukta. But, the CM Jagadish Shettar is equally adamant in not appointing the Lokayukta, come what may, till such time, an accommodative person is found. 

 Arguably, despite the HC deadline, Jagadish Shettar can still delay the process. Jagadish Shettar can start the selection process to please the HC and avoid contempt and can send a request to the CJ for suggesting a name. Assuming that the CJ responds immediately, Jagadish Shettar can delay the process of consultations and approvals with the other panel members. Meanwhile, the BJP’s which has best legal brains may approach the SC for further delaying the process. If it succeeds in delaying the process for another four months, it can further postpone it saying it is election time.

 True, the HC can pass severe remarks against the government for not appointing the Lokayukta, but it cannot appoint the Lokayukta on its own. It cannot even direct the Governor to appoint Upa Lokayukta. In the existing Act, the Governor cannot appoint the Lokayukta. At the maximum he can reject the recommendations and ask for another name. Finally, the decision lies with the political authority. What one can do if the politicians in power are out to delay the appointment? There is no statutory provision for appointment of the Lokayukta or Upa Lokayukta before the incumbent retires. During Venaktachala’s regime as Lokayukta, he had prevented the appointment of Upa Lokayukta for full four years! As on now, one cannot hope the immediate appointment of Lokayukta. 

And that is all.

Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter THE CHILDREN OF PREJUDICE CHILDREN ADMITTED UNDER ‘RTE’ BECOME A NEW TRIBE OF DALITS, FACE DISCRIMATION

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

THE CHILDREN OF PREJUDICE! 

CHILDREN ADMITTED UNDER ‘RTE’ BECOME A NEW TRIBE OF DALITS, FACE DISCRIMATION! 

 The Right to Education Act has created a new tribe of dalits. The poor students who get admitted to ‘big’ private schools are being segregated by the school managements. They are treated as ‘Third Class’ junior citizens and being humiliated, insulted and treated with utmost contempt. G.R.Sharma, the President of the KUSMA had gone to the extent of declaring that the students admitted under RTE are polluting the entire atmosphere in the schools. The government is not lifting its fingers to discipline the private school owners/managements. It is time, the government especially the education minister Visweswara Hegde Kageri, who is known to be honest, take a firm decision in this regard... 

The incident happened at the Oxford School, where few students admitted under the RTE, were segregated from other students. To identify the RTE students, who as a rule are poor, a part of their hair was cut short for identification purpose. They were not allowed to mingle freely with other children. The incident takes us back to the yester years, where dalit children were made to sit separately and face humiliating treatments. If this treatment was given to dalit children now, one could have filed cases against the school owners under Atrocities Act and the school management would have knelt before the children and their parents. But this time, it was to the children admitted to the schools under RTE who are very poor. And as such, there is no protection to the poor children who belong to OBCs and some of them who belong to BPL families. 

 This incident is not an isolated case limited to Oxford School, but, the story is same in other prestigious private education institutions also. The only difference is that the Oxford School incident got reported and received wide publicity, and rightly so. The episode is definitely a blot on the society and a mockery of the much touted RTE which is aimed at providing social justice to the children of poor. 

 Shockingly, G.R.Sharma, the President of the KUSMA (Karnataka Unaided School Management Association) reflected the mentality of the school owners in one of his public statements. He stated that like sewage water pollutes the sea, the children from poor and BPL who gets admitted to the schools under RTE, pollutes the entire atmosphere, the school’s standing and reputation! 

Sharma’s statement shocked the people at large, but he still got the support of parents who have admitted their children to prestigious schools. These high class people have utilized hefty donations and influence for a seat in the prestigious schools and obviously do not want children from the very poor family rubbing shoulders with their ‘high class’ off springs. Sharma’s statement and the incident at the Oxford School are interrelated and showcase the mentality of the school owners who also call themselves as Managements. Education has become a highly lucrative business which can bring in crores every year particularly through donations. And it is for this ‘business’ that the education shop owners are opposing the RTE which does not bring them profits or enhances their school’s reputation. 

 Of course, these education shop owners do not admit the children under RTE for charity. The government bears the tuition fee of these less fortunate children. As on now, the government has fixed Rs. Ten thousand per student. In fact the RTE is aimed at providing quality education to the poor children by sponsoring their education. The RTE is aimed at social justice also. There is nothing wrong if the education shop owners provide 25% of the seats to the neighbouring poor children, free of cost as a sort of social responsibility. At the maximum, they would lose the ‘donation’ from these students. 

 Interestingly, the government has banned collection of donations while it has allowed the schools to fix the tuition fee for themselves. In spite of the ban on donation, majority of the private schools whether aided or unaided, collect donation from the parents. While the admission receipts are issued for the children in the school’s name, the donation receipts are given in the name of the parent and that too by the society which runs the school. This is known to everybody. There are cases where ‘donations’ are not accounted for. The school owner/management simply receives the donations and do not issue receipts at all. The parents simply cannot demand receipts and if they do, they are denied the admission. 

 Whatsoever, the RTE has snowballed into a fierce controversy in the state. The education department officials who are allegedly hand in glove with the managements have not done their home work properly. Even though the RTE was to be enforced from this academic year, the department simply sat tight till the last moment. When they started imposing RTE, most of the schools had closed their admissions. It should also be noted that the government has banned the admission to the schools till April. But the hard fact is that most of the schools complete the admissions by January itself. This is going on since years and none of the officials in the education department have tried to stop this menace. 

 It is high time; the government adopts a tough stand in the matter. It must withdraw the recognition to the schools if they do not implement RTE. As the school managements are financially sound and politically powerful, the government can file a caveat in the High Court, the moment it derecognizes the schools to prevent them from getting interim relief, ex parte. The government can also blacklist such schools - whether state or central syllabus, from getting any permission in the future. For CBSE or ISCE schools, the state government may send recommendations to the concerned boards to cancel their affiliations and also withdraw the NOC given to these ‘Central’ schools. Only then, the private school owners/managements will come to live up with RTE.

Firoz.T.Totanawala The Bangalore Metro Reporter THE POLITICAL OUTBURST YEDURAPPA’S BUDGET SPEECH HITS MULTIPLE TARGETS.

By Firoz.T.Totanawala

The Bangalore Metro Reporter

THE POLITICAL OUTBURST 

 YEDURAPPA’S BUDGET SPEECH HITS MULTIPLE TARGETS. 

 The Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar proved that he is a loyal to former CM B.S.Yeddyurappa. The day after Yedurappa lambasted the state government for its inept handing of the drought situation and demanded waiving of all agricultural loans; Jagadish Shettar announced waiving of all agriculture loans up to Rs.25000 including interest. Shettar also conceded all the demands made by Yedurappa in his speech in the Assembly. In a way Yedurappa acted as the leader of the opposition in the Assembly. Yedurappa’s outbursts against his own government have not gone down well with the BJP leaders particularly the anti Yedurappa group. And this has started another round of factional feuds and this time, it will be decisive.... 

The other day former CM B.S. Yeddyurappa donned the role of an opposition leader, while lambasting the government’s inability to fight the drought in the state. Yedurappa’s outbursts in his more than an hour speech against his own government has naturally shocked the ruling party members including the ministers. Arguably, the episode was stage managed by Yedurappa to prove that he is controlling the Jagadish Shettar government. 

 True, it is the Speaker who allots time to the legislators to make their contribution to the debates. Except the Chief Minister and Opposition leader no other member is given unlimited time to speak. But for Yedurappa, there was no restriction of time which implies that the Speaker had already given him the freedom to speak as long as he wished. This is a sort of protocol violation by the Speaker for which there is no penalty. 

 It may be recalled that Yedurappa had time and again proclaimed that he would present one lakh crore budget, but could not do so during his three plus year as Chief Minister. The highest budget he presented was around 80 thousand crores. But Sadananda could actually present his first budget at more than a one lakh crore more so due to his style of functioning and revenue mobilisation. Naturally, Yedurappa became envious of Sadananda and thereby lead dissident movement against him. 

 Coming to the passing of the budget in this session, Yedurappa wanted to show who the real leader is - that is he himself. He had successfully toppled Sadananda and instated his loyalist Jagadish Shettar as the CM, but, there was a counter attack. Those MLAs with RSS background and also those who opposed Yedurappa’s dictatorial and casteist politics have now grouped against Yedurappa. The Sadananda group which boasts of more than 60 MLAs is demanding equal distribution of power and powerful portfolios. They want state BJP president ship for Sadananda and in a way Yedurappa is at the receiving end. If the Sadananda group opts for desperate action in resigning their posts, the Jagadish Shettar government will fall. In that event, the entire blame will be laid at Yedurappa. 

 It is an open secret that Yedurappa was planning to form a regional party for the last one year. He wanted to get expelled from BJP so that he could gain sympathy by posing as a martyr. At the same time, the high command wanted Yedurappa to go out of the party on his own. That is why they tolerated Yedurappa’s venomous outbursts against everybody in the high command including L.K.Advani. They succumbed to his blackmail and removed Sadananda as CM who was performing rather well despite Yedurappa group’s non co-operation. They have now brought in Yedurappa’s candidate Jagadish Shettar as the CM. 

 Whatsoever, Yedurappa wants to establish the fact that he is the defacto CM and Shettar only a dejure CM and he therefore stroked at the budget on the pretext of laxity of the state government in tackling the drought. He ‘arranged’ a marathon speech on budget where he took the government to task in strong words and wanted Shettar to announce many measures he had said in the speech. A meek Shettar did the rest. He announced waiving of loans and other things as demanded by Yedurappa. 

 Of course, it appeared that Yedurappa’s original target was Sadananda even though during his speech, he belittled the CM Shettar. Everybody knows that Shettar has just recently become the CM and till then, Sadananda was the CM and he had the responsibility of tackling the drought issue. On the contrary, Sadananda’s actions in tackling the drought situation were appreciated even by the central government. But Yedurappa sang a different tune to condemn him. Sadananda however hit back at Yedurappa stating that Yedurappa should not have poured venom on his own government and termed it as a tragedy. 

 Yedurappa’s highly critical budget speech also targeted the high command. Only now, the high command has realised the real colour of Yedurappa. But it still will not show the guts to discipline him. It is banking on the CBI probe to show him his correct place. At the same time, the high command cannot ignore the genuine demands of Sadananda group which is in majority. Sadananda group is all set to renew their demand for equitable distribution of power after the budget session which will conclude on 3rd August. 

 Whatsoever, Yedurappa’s outbursts against his own government has definitely shocked the BJP leaders. Yedurappa had multiple targets from the present CM Shettar to former CM Sadananda to the high command and his message was clear. One has to wait and see what message will be sent back to Yedurappa from the high command and the Sadananda group.