IAF choppers set to fly in Jharkhand's ‘Red zone'
Wednesday, 05 October 2011 01:25
VIJAY DEO JHA RANCHI

The IAF will dispatch two of its Mi-17iv helicopters to the Jharkhand Government for logistic support in State-wide anti-Maoist operations being jointly conducted by police and the Central security forces.
“There is a request for deploying two more choppers in Ranchi. We will have a total of six helicopters in these operations,” head of Indian Air Force Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne was quoted by news agencies.
The forces have two Dhruva helicopters donated by the BSF to back up their operations.
It is for the first time that the IAF will provide choppers to the State Government. “We had made a request for choppers. These will be made available to us following maintenance work. We have already pushed back the Maoists. The IAF choppers will give us a decisive edge,” State DGP GS Rath said.
The Centre has denied reports that the new choppers will be used exclusively to airlift and drop jawans from the operation area and will not be directly involved in the offensive. It is yet to be known whether or not these will be fitted with light machineguns since the IAF had asked the Centre to allow for retaliatory action in case its helicopters are attacked by the Maoists. “The Centre will take a call (on the matter),” said Rath.
The decision to provide more choppers to Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and other States in the Maoist corridor was taken last year by the Central Government during a crucial meeting with top officials. The Centre had promised to provide as many as 23 choppers to these States.
Giving priority to Jharkhand over other States such as Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal that demanded a unified command to coordinate such operations, the Centre chose it for the unified command last year.
Aware of the shortage of the IAF choppers since a good number of these were deployed in the UNO mission in Congo, the Centre also mulled the proposal to hire them from private players and initially made a provision for 13 choppers to ferry troops and supplies to Maoist zones under operation, reducing the figure to six later on.
The twin-engine bullet-proof Mi-17iv choppers can carry up to 25 persons including the crew. It can fly and make sorties in the dark, giving the forces an edge in evacuation and rescue

Parties slam Plan panel’s BPL status report

VIJAY DEO JHA

THURSDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER 2011

| RANCHI

What ‘welfare’ Governments in the last six decades could not achieve to lift poor out of poverty line; Planning Commission of India did it overnight by an affidavit in the Supreme Court; swearing people spending Rs 32 in the urban area and Rs 26 in the rural area don’t deserve BPL status.

But the States like Jharkhand having shocking statistics of poverty, the political class has strongly opposed the very redefining of the BPL. The Congress chose a close guard language to seek a review while the BJP painted the Congress- led UPA Government as anti-people and anti-poor.

“Report and its recommendations are yet to be accepted by the Central Government. It is not final we have been told by the Central leadership. So there is no cause of concern,” State Congress spokesperson Sailesh Sinha said. Wary about the Congress getting anti-poor tag everyday Sinha accepted the criteria set by the Commission was illogical.

Former Finance Minister and BJP MP Yahswant Sinha termed it a fine act to blur the line between poor and peer. “The Government is removing poverty in the papers by changing its definition. It has become obvious now that the Government considers poor as a liability and doesn’t want to spare resources for their upliftment,” he said.

He refused to believe Congress and the Government confused over the BPL issue. “The Government has always refused to accept actual figure of the BPL families in the country even if after the reports of various commissions appointed by the Government,” he said.

The Left Front has too joined the chorus. MLA Vinod Singh of the CPI (ML) and Arup Chatterjee of the Marxist Coordination Committee registered their strong opposition. “Well, policymakers should be given `32 per day as sustenance cost and than ask them their experience of hardship. Only then they will know poor and their pain,” Chatterjee said.

JVM Chief and MP Babulal Marandi deployed three adjectives ‘cruel’, ‘casual’, and ‘sad’, to thrash the Centre and the Commission. “It would have been good on the part of the Government to take some radical steps to end poverty but not by this way. People are getting alienated and they are one who to face the burnt of price hike. Pittance has been pressed into the whole discourse to redefine poverty three times less than minimum wage,” he said.

JMM, AJSU control bid over boards/corps gains steam

Vijay Deo Jha

THURSDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER 201

| RANCHI

Pressure politics of disgruntled JMM and AJSU MLAs to secure boards/corporations in Jharkhand is gaining ground since the State Government is reported to have asked various departments to furnish details of boards/corporations where the posts of chairpersons are lying vacant.

There are around 40 board/corporations out of which around 36 are waiting for the appointment of a chairperson. The exercise has taken place after the disgruntled MLAs formed a solid coalition to push their interest. Just a week before the Monsoon Session of the Assembly in August, these MLAs had set a deadline before their respective party chiefs to settle the matter without delay and even met Chief Minister Arjun Munda in this regard.

Sources in the Government confided that departmental secretaries have been asked to submit details of the board/corporation for the likely appointment of chairpersons. But the group has now come up with a fresh demand to replace existing chairpersons of the remaining boards and corporations.

“What is the logic behind keeping a person as a chairperson for a decade, why Government appointed an IAS as the chairperson of the State Pollution Control Board,” JMM MLA Sita Soren asked.

Keeping a person for a decade, lady Soren did not refer Jharkhand Khadi board chairperson Jainandu, but she meant so. Janinadu is the man who has charisma on his side to keep bosses of political parties and Chief Ministers in good humour, an essential maneuvering mantra that kept him at the helm of affairs despite change of Governments.

But the coalition partners are trembling with the trouble in deciding shares in the board/corporation, especially plum one. For instance both JMM and the BJP are eying for State Pollution Control Board, Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation Limited, Adityapur Industrial Area Development Authority and others.

The AJSU is also keen for Pollution Control besides State Housing Board. There is at least seven to eight such boards/corporations like Mineral Area Development Authority, Ranchi Industrial Area Development Authority, Jharkhand State Mineral Development Corporation, Jharkhand State Agriculture Marketing Board, State Housing Board, Jharkhand Hill Area Lift Irrigation Corporation, Tenughat Vidyut Nigam Ltd etc which are in the wish-list of every party.

The problem does not end with a convincing and agreeing sharing formula that is under discussion right now. Last time when similar voices were raised the Government had appointed JMM MLA Seshank Sekhar Bhokta and BJP MLA Barkuwar Gagarai to find the number of board/corporations. But the swelling number of competing clamour in the JMM forced the party chief Shibu Soren to shelve the matter for the time being. “Every MLA of the JMM wanted board and corporation as compensation for not getting ministerial berth… everybody wanted plum board… and beside them there is a long queue of party leaders who persuaded for their rehabilitation. It was not easy. Soren took an easy way to defer it,” a senior party MLA said.

Like the JMM, the AJSU is also humming with dissonance. Nevertheless, the aspirants in the BJP including its MLAs have not gone overboard in the JMM and AJSU fashion but party insiders sounded enough caution on this count.

“The party does not consist only of MLAs. There are competent and dedicated people who have served the party whom you cannot ignore.” The only difference is it is an open rebellion in the JMM and AJSU while it is a controlled epidemic in the BJP,” he said.

Two crore to sign in favour of special status for Jharkhand

SaTURDAY 17, 2011

VIJAY DEO JHA

The State BJP has reiterated its outstanding demand for the special status for Jharkhand. The party will launch a signature campaign from September 25. About two crore signatures would be collected from across the State which would later be sent to the Central Government.

Chief Minister Arjun Munda, who has been raising this issue at every opportune occasion, would be the first signatory. “It will not be a token protest or humble submission. The protest will gather momentum in the towns and villages of Jharkhand which are the worst victim of the Centre’s apathy,” Munda told The Pioneer.

Powered by the active support of the party rank and file, about two crore signatures would be appended to the petition addressing the Central Government.

“We will target around two crore people out of the 3.31 crore population of Jharkhand for their signatures and active involvement,” State BJP president Dineshananda Goswami said. “We will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with the petition,” Goswami added.

The demand for special status is new. Munda may even appear to follow in Bihar’s Chief Minister Nitish Kumar footsteps who had launched a similar signature campaign a few months back to pressure the Centre.

Noted economist Prof. Ramesh Sharan said that the demand for ‘special status’ for Jharkhand has a solid basis and a history.

“In the days of undivided Bihar, the Jharkhand Autonomous Council was constituted to address the underdevelopment in this area with special economic assistance. There was demand to declare the areas falling under JAC as a Union Territory, which could not happen leading to the creation of Jharkhand as a separate State in 2000. But in terms of development, it has remained underdeveloped in all spheres, thus presenting a strong case for its special status,” he said.

Special status to Jharkhand won’t come easily and the Munda establishment is aware of this fact, experts, however, said. Munda has placed this demand before the Centre and special status for Jharkhand has become a political issue.

“I am merely echoing the public voice that will ring across New Delhi. The Centre will have to pay heed to our demand. We are like a colony of the Centre that exhausts our mineral resources to develop the rest of India,” Munda said.

“As many as 10,500 villages of Jharkhand are extremely backward. We get less royalty on minerals and resources. We own mines and minerals but are forced to beg before the Centre for our own requirements,” he added.

Prof. Sharan, meanwhile, argued in favour of a special package for Jharkhand State.

“If the rest of India is shining, it is due to States like Jharkhand that supplies minerals and other resources. These States are, however, destined to remain undeveloped and face the brunt of displacement and deprivation. Jharkhand receives less allocation from the Finance Commission only because of its higher per capita income while one half of its population lives below poverty line. But nobody bothers to know if the per capita income information is fallacious. Poverty should be the criteria for allocation and Jharkhand at least deserves special package for another 10 years before its socio-economic development gets off the ground,” he said.

The rules for granting special category status - that brings a slew of economic and tax-related relief measures for the States- lie clearly defined by the Planning Commission forming part of the guidelines of the National Development Council. They are usually States with hilly and/or inaccessible terrain, low population density or a sizeable tribal population, strategic location or sharing international borders, economic and infrastructural backwardness and non-viable nature of finances. Eleven States enjoy special status and these include Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and the North-Eastern States.

Baffling silence

Two minutes of silence for Sonia!

VIJAY DEO JHA

RANCHI

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Sahu exhausted his quota of common sense in sheer excess of loyalty towards the Nehru-Gandhi family and observed a ‘two-minute of silence’ for the speedy recovery of the Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Sahu used a public occasion, the foundation laying ceremony of a school at Simaria in Chatra, to display his loyalty towards Madam, a day back. On his call hundreds of his faithful bowed their head in silence with frustrating freeze on their tongue. But many kept wondering, questioning and whispering about his baffling act.

A local Congress leader part of that silence session intelligently lifted a part of the quote Mani Shankar Aiyar about the ‘Congress party like a circus and every party member has to join’, to narrate the incident.

“As though we were the animals of the circus company and he was the ring master he suddenly asked all of us to observe silence and we had no time to correct him. He refused to realise the mistake even when he was told about this later on,” the leader said.

It was too late for the liquor baron Sahu to realise that a two-minute silence is meant to mourn the death not to wish longevity of a person who has not died. “My intention was not bad. It was a prayer meeting for the speedy recovery of Soniaji. She is our party chief and guardian too,” he defended later on. None in the Congress came to defend him; Sahu too withdrew in silence after the episode. But his adversaries have ensured that the party general secretary Rahul Gandhi must be briefed about this with added pepper and spice.

“It is a serious matter not the prank and frolic of a baby to laugh. He is an MP after all. He thinks that such acts will give him the access to the 10 Janpath Road. Dukhad hai dukhad hai,” said one of the party seniors. Sahu is not the only State Congress leaders who have funnily attempted to get direct access to the Congress chief and Rahul Gandhi and to catch their attention. “Most of us make regular visit to Delhi and mostly return without getting an audience of the party chief over Jharkhand. We laze and roam there,” confided a former party MLA. Back to Jharkhand they claim having met Madam.

The tradition of flattery of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty is not new in Jharkhand. Rahul Gandhi is referred with honorific title Yuvraj (prince) and Yuva Hridaya Samrat officially. Since there is no prescribed limit of the degree of loyalty they go overboard often creating controversy. Some Congress workers led by Ajay Rai had celebrated the victory of Italy in 2006 in FIFA ‘World Football’ by hoisting Italian flag not out of sportsman spirit but Sonia being the native of Italy. The matter was patched-up.

But Sahu’s faux-pas cautioned many in the state Congress who wanted to rewrite their insipid CV of their loyalty towards the party and its chief. So why the fax machines of media houses are least troubled these days by their press release seeking speedy recovery of Sonia Gandhi. “Initially I too wished to issue a press release but dropped the idea since only few statements have been issued by important leaders of the Opposition and the Congress. Let not hype it,” a senior party office bearer said. State Congress President Pradeep Balmuchu has announced to organise Mahamritunjaya to seek the blessing of divine for her good health. A Sarv Dharm Prathana Sabha was held on Monday for Sonia and her health. Thanks heaven it remained a prayer meeting not a point to prove loyalty.

State to share river mining revenue with panchayats


Malay/Vijay Deo Jha | Ranchi

It was a small step but one seen as a landmark one that will go a long way in empowering panchayat bodies. The State Government has decided that panchayat bodies will be a major stake holder in the auctioning of the work of quarrying of sand from the river beds of Jharkhand.

As per the proposal agreed upon, mining of sand will be decided by an open tender involving the panchayat body. The significant part of the proposal is that the panchayat body will have a major share of the money generated out of the tender at 80 per cent. The remaining 20 per cent will go into the State coffers.

Close on the heels of this decision, panchayat bodies of two districts Godda and Dhanbad have been provided with sums of Rs four and five crore, respectively, against the bandobasti of sand quarrying.

The Government took this step after various rounds of consultations with different bodies. The proposal is very much on the lines of the Panchayat Act which says that the local body should have the right over minor mineral resources including water.

This is the second such move of the State Government in the last two months and it will allow the local body a major say in critical issues. Barely two months ago, Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda placed a bar on the industrial houses from direct purchase of land for establishment of industry. He made it amply clear that the consent of the local body should be taken and the local people taken into confidence before acquiring land for industry.

The Government has said the step will be one of the biggest sources of finance for the panchayat body. Government sources said the panchayat body could be given preference in sand quarrying if it so wishes.

"This is an innovative project from the Government's side and is a win-win situation for such panchayat bodies as well," Secretary Mines AK Sarkar said.

The system is working effectively in other BJP-ruled States such as Chhattisgarh where the panchayat body has been vested with rights to manage minor mineral resources. Even if the move has been described as "innovative", it follows the Central Government guideline issued to State Governments asking them to empower local bodies to put an end to complaints of alienation among the tribal populace. Last year, the Central Government had accepted the right of the locals and tribals over minor forest products and even directed the State Governments to withdraw minor cases of theft of forest products against them. Governor K Sankaranarayanan had ordered the withdrawal of 11,000 such cases in Jharkhand.

Involving the panchayat as share holder in the sandbank may upset stakeholders who have been controlling this unorganised yet profit-making business. Hemant, holding the charge of the Department of Mines and Minerals, said: "No doubt, it is going to end the tussle between sand miners and the people of the area who are the natural stake holders. Additionally, it will prove to be a source of revenue for the respective panchayat bodies."

But this step will not benefit all panchayats of Jharkhand. "It's quite natural since a river cannot be forced to flow through every panchayat," Sarkar said. But then it is a minor step that will usher in major change, he added.

Oppn to corner Govt despite curtailed Monsoon session
August 13, 2011 11:34:07 PM

VIJAY DEO JHA | Ranchi

Even if the nine-day long Monsoon session of the Assembly gets reduced to five working days due to intermittent holidays the Opposition will make best use of the time to grill the Arjun Munda Government.

The Opposition's strategy will be revealed only after the joint meeting of the united Opposition on July 18 but a section of the Congress MLAs can even propose to boycott the session.

“The Government does not want to face the Opposition over public issues so why it deliberately chose short duration of the session. I am of the view that the Opposition should boycott the session if the Government does not accept a month-long Monsoon session,” Congress MLA KN Tripathy said.

And Tripathy is even going to place this proposal during the meeting as he said: “Many of my party colleagues have a similar opinion that the Opposition should boycott the session since the five working days are of no use.” His proposal may face flank of the JVM since the party is mulling some bigger assaults on the Government and placing no-confidence motion against the Government could be one of these.

“Some of the MLAs of the coalition Government are speaking in a pattern that echoes their distrust against the Government. They had open spat during the Jamshedpur by-election. The JMM chief has already made his displeasure known towards the Government for ignoring the minorities. The people would like to know whether the Government enjoys support of the majority," leader of JVM legislative body Pradeep Yadav said.

Yadav clearly stated what he meant: “We can even bring a no-confidence motion against the Government.” Both Tripathy and Yadav favoured extreme steps but even the milder one will be enough to smother the Government on various issues.

The House will boom with Opposition's noise over poor results of the Class XII affecting thousands of the students of the State who became the victim of JAC's inapt handling and subsequent failure of the HRD Minister and the Government to find a solution.

“It is top on our agenda since it involves the future of the students. The Government has the tendency to avoid a problem even if the public anger boils,” CMI (ML) legislator Vinod Singh said. On the issue of anti-encroachment drive also Chief Minister Arjun Munda and the Deputy Chief Minister Hemant Soren will have to face angry show of the Opposition. “Our strategy will revolve around eviction of the poor in the name of anti-encroachment drive and the failure of the Government to resettle them. I know what this Government is going to parry this issue by issuing a nonsense statement but that will not work,” leader of RJD legislative body Annapurna Devi said.

Hemant will have to face most of the lethal attacks of the Opposition since his Urban Development Department is a key to the anti-encroachment drive and rehabilitation policy. Left with less time the department is working overtime to give final shape to the rehabilitation policy likely to be tabled before the House. But confusion and chaos continues over some of the key issues

Sankarshan Thakur

Me Vijay Deo Jha along with Manoj Srivastava (Anchor Sadhana New) and Suruchi in New Delhi

Gandhi cap no more a Cong trademark

Gandhi cap no more a Cong trademark
August 21, 2011 12:07:19 AM

VIJAY DEO JHA

Good news has stopped flowing for the Congress in the wake of the Anna Hazare movement and the bad news is that the party has seemingly lost property rights as exclusive user of the Gandhi cap as its trademark.

The surge of men, women and children with white cap on their head to support Anna all over the country from Delhi’s pulsating vista India Gate to numerous hinterlands of the country is a clear indication of this. But dare not to look at the sale record of the Gandhi caps which is nothing but a topi boom that has boomeranged on the Congress.

Jharkhand is not far behind in selling Gandhi cap, which some call Anna cap too. The Khadi Board of Jamshedpur has witnessed a sudden surge in the sale of cap after its establishment in 1995. “We have sold about 200 caps in three days meeting the gap between demand and supply. We store 500 caps, but have asked our production unit to be prepared to supply more. It is not only the politicians and social workers, but majority of the customers are students, businessmen, teachers, retired persons etc”, said Bhibuti Rai, manager, khadi retail outlet in Bistupur. He went on to inform that the sale after August 15 especially picked off due to the campaign led by Anna.

“Gandhi cap,” the civil society activist Vishnu Rajgadhiya observes, “is on more deserving heads, those who are fighting for democracy rather than those who have made daily business to disdain and doubt Anna and his campaign.”

Back to Ranchi it is topi industry in making. “Sir we are more in a topi industry than selling usual khadi stuff. Everybody wants a Gandhi cap to join some procession to support Anna. Gandhi caps were never in demand except for few occasions. If people are returning to this cap to join protest it is an indicator of a big change lurking before the nation,” an employee of khadi retail shop in Ranchi observed.

“All it comes with a little cost `25 to `40 no more, and you get right gear on your head before to announce Mai Bhi Anna (Me Anna too).” Pandit Prakash and Bipul Vikash, the two brothers who have recently passed their Class XII and their sister Preeti Kumari, proudly display their caps; nevertheless, they have little idea about this popular campaign. Asked whether they know anything about the cause for which Anna stands for: Probably very little. But that does not bother these brothers to join the campaign with others.

Senior citizen Gaffar Khan, a tailor, of the Main Road has two sets of concerns before him. He is wary about the success of the Anna Hazare-led movement for that he makes daily prayer, but, equally worried since he has to supply around 200 Gandhi caps in the coming four days. His sewing machines are making lot of noise to stitch odd pieces of white cloth to make a cap. “Arey gol nahi tikona banao kabhi Nehruji ka topi pahne foto nahi dekha kya, bewakoof aadmi log, (Keep it triangular doesn’t make it round. Idiot and unskilled people haven’t you even seen Nehruji in Gandhi cap),” he chides his staff. He could be yet another tailor earning his bread and butter but making cap is something different. He could have told you if bobbin had not run out of thread.

But few veterans and old time leaders left in the State Congress understand the loss that the party has suffered. “You could be distinguished either as Gandhian or a Congress worker if you had placed this cap on your head.

Gandhi and his cap were the symbol of the Congress but today it has become a seething symbol of protest against the Congress. It is a big loss and nobody is realising it,” a veteran Congress leader lamented privately.

Back in 2008, the Congress had formally dropped Gandhi cap from its political wardrobe during the conclave of Congress Sewa Dal when cricket caps were distributed among the workers in New Delhi. Then Sewa Dal president Mahendra Joshi had said that the Gandhi cap would be used during special situation like disaster management where Congress workers are seen organising help.

The Congress today is facing a disaster of a different kind which is hard to manage at the drop of the hat. In between it has lost this cap at the hand of public.

Ahead of Sharad’s visit state JD (U) grapples with problems
VIJAY DEO JHA
RANCHI
Things have long been bad for the JD (U) in Jharkhand but they have never been so bad as now. It has already lost precious counts of number in the Assembly to save face as a recognised political outfit in the tally of the Election Commission of India. It has of course a jilted state president, Jaleswar Mahto; who is more prone to promote factionalism to save his post rather to take some urgent steps to address organisational follies before the party gets more faceless in Jharkhand.
Factionalism has affected the party down the line: it has more leaders and less of the workers. Only last day two of the party seniors Bhagban Singh and Ramesh Singh acted like macho-man holding each others’ collar at a press conference rather to show maturity. It happened just a few days before when the party national president Sharad Yadav is on an urgent house keeping job in Jharkhand on July 26.
And before you begin to wonder whether Yadav will be able to discipline his unruly house in Jharkhand and energize his cadres; things that wonder party leaders the most, whether they can converge even a modest gathering of thousand workers for the conclave.
“I do not believe that we will be able to gather even a thousand workers to attend the party programme. Many have joined other parties, many have gone dormant and many others have lost interest because the party organisation was deliberately made defunct,” a party senior warily told.
The party in the past offered a poor score card of its presence through demonstrations, regular meetings and others. The Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar had famously announced an ambitious plan to expand electoral and organisational base of Jharkhand JD (U) on the line of Bihar. During last assembly election Nitish had deputed three of his trusted lieutenants Sharavan kumar, Bhim Singh and Ravindra Singh for electioneering and to diagnose the problem of the state unit. Nitish had peppered Jharkhand with many chopperstop visits, addressing a good number of high-voltage meetings. He was the spike-points of this campaign that bagged his party only two MLAs: Raja Peter and Sudha Chaudhary.
Nitish furiously dumped his plan soon after. Jharkhand was not his cup of tea, nevertheless state leaders regularly continues to pay him a visit for his benign look.
“People in Jharkhand rejected us because we could not perform up to their expectation. We were not competent. We delivered exceptionally well in Bihar against Jharkhand where delivered a dud. We need to address urgent and core issues,” Shravan Kumar told The Pioneer over telephone.
The core issue, many in the party think needed to be addressed on urgent basis; is the removal of Jaleswar Mahto who is facing flanks from all sides.
“Even Nitishji and Sharadji are not in the favour of retaining him. But they have different choices and difference about the selection,” a leader said who did not want his name to be quoted. Nitish wants a Kurmi face as state president. Sharad prefers a tribal leader to lead the party. Nitish is facing a predicament of peculiar kind. State JD (U) has no such Kurmi face to fit in his design. Nevertheless, the state JD (U) has one popular tribal face, Raja Peter who is not only young but also has considerable mass following. Many in the party accept Peter as the future face of the party. Peter is the minister of Disaster Management and Excise Department in the Arjun Munda led coalition government. “He is not only ministering his political fortune but the fortune of his party also. He has proved himself as a good administrator and has caliber and courage to expand the base of the party,” a leader of the state JD (U) executive committee said.
The burden to Nevertheless, party’s lone popular face and minister in Arjun Munda led BJP coalition government Raja Peter. But Mahto has known disparage against Peter to that extent where he used all tricks and excuses to stop Peter from becoming minister in the cabinet.
A bereft state headquarters of the JD (U) resounded with the severity of multifold crisis, leaders looked desperately for explanations they could not afford to air publicly. But they said enough to understand: “We hope his visit may not like yet another drops of passing rain that barely even seeds the ground, much less create a harvest.”

Munda seeks patience over performance

VIJAY DEO JHA

RANCHI

Amid ominous grunts of the coalition partner and his party over not so satisfactory performance of the government Chief Minister asserted his was a development oriented government and placed before the media ‘plans’ and ‘priorities’ of the government at a press conference, on Monday.

Munda hinted the government will bring three important bills related with corruption, service act and IT. The purpose of this press conference Munda said: “People have the fundamental right to know as to what the government is doing. The Ministers of the government will now hold regular press conferences to let the people know about government and governance. We want the social audit of the performance of the government.”

Claiming law and order situation in Jharkhand has improved Munda said that his government was keen to bring transparency, accountability and zero tolerance towards corruption.

“The purpose of bring a bill regarding IT is that, it will add transparency in the government works. We will form law to deal with corruption and the law related with service act so that people get right service at the right time,” he said. Though, Munda did not explain much about the nitty-gritty of proposed bills.

Munda veered around key words like ‘accountability’ ‘responsibility and communication gap’ just to add on to his muffled acceptance of the failure of his government to meet the expectation of the people. He did not make any pointed reference but his target group was the officials who had occupied the first row of the press conference. Even Munda during the press conference was repeatedly reminded and complained by the media about his unresponsive bureaucracy that acts as a roadblock to let the information related with development work to pass on to public domain.

Munda answered: “I have started this initiative to ensure our accountability and responsibility.” For the next two weeks; Munda has ensured his government as the rallying point of media attention since the government has planned a slue of press conferences of the ministers from July 25 to August 8.

Munda discussed the key sectors where the pace of infrastructural development has been accelerated. In the power sector we have drafted plans for 6000 MW of power generation by the next year. Jharkhand where the power generation capacity of its vintage and defunct power plants has never crossed 1000 MW limit, statistics of the State Energy Department were readily made available according to which the total power production of its total four units is 2520 MW
.
“We are upgrading power plants. We have plans to turn Jharkhand into a power hub. New transmission lines have been established. Now we are aiming around 1200 villages of Jharkhand which is bereft of electricity,” he said.

Munda informed that government has decided to grant 85 per cent subsidy for CFL project in Jharkhand involving elected local body for its execution. Munda said that his government was committed to involve local elected body in governance adding that his government was bound to bring the development to the last people.

A patient Munda asked patience till the time his long term projects come into shape. “It may take some time for the result to come. Roads, electricity, social security are the major thrust area of the government. We have involved noted economists who are working with us to draw plans for the integrated development of Jharkhand.”

Munda replied quite philosophically to some of the pointed poser at a time when the alliance partner in the government, the JMM is not so impressed with the government and governance. Munda shifted blames on the coalition compulsion without buying any direct confrontation.

“During election we too ask people for a complete majority. But then we are running a coalition government by forging some common grounds and political will. Development is not the responsibility of a government only…the Opposition, MLAs and people are too responsible. They should know it.”

Switched off ministers of Munda cabinet
Want a public voice to know Ministers’ mind

VIJAY DEO JHA
RANCHI
The cabinet ministers of the Arjun Munda government who often wear detachment as distinction -- the absence of a designated voice is probably not being missed.

As mark of minimum flaunt, most of his ministers including deputy chief ministers, Sudesh Mahato and Hemant Soren switched off their official cell phone the day they took charge as minister. They reportedly have switched over to some secret numbers with only a limited number of people having the privy to dial him for a deal or a dialogue.

Even rookie in legislative politics and ministerial job — first time MLA and minister from the BJP Satyanand Jha Batul, joined the snob class of ministers. The only exception is Disaster Management and Excise Department minister Raja Peter of the JD (U) who promptly responds calls and even calls backs. “Why should I keep my mobile phone switched off? Why should I ask my private secretary to speak on my behalf? I am a people’s representative and people have the right to talk to me directly to seek any information,” he said over telephone.

Wonder happens with switched off cells of these disconnect ministers. Sometimes its rings too if called but soon gets switched off or turn to busy mode even if the minister is not busy. But this is too rare an occasion and you are too lucky if your effort indeed buzzed his mobile: Hemant Soren for instance on Thursday evening.

But it is indeed tough to point out as to when Sudesh last operated his official number. Munda’s both deputy CMs are burdened with the responsibility of plum departments. They are ministering the fortune of Jharkhand. Want to talk Hemant then dial Pintu, his private assistant, with a request. Most of the times the requests are turned down with tailor-made pretext: ‘Minister is busy’. Want to talk to Sudesh call on Himanshu if you are in his good book and phone book.

Health Minister and senior JMM leader Hemlal Murmu chose politically clever line that neither defended nor denounced his cabinet colleagues. “How can I say as to why they keep their phone switched off? Ask them directly. It is up to them,” Hemlal reacted. He also belongs to the tribe of ministers who picks less and selective calls.

Yours’ truly and trusted aides of these ministers have their point to argue if the minister does not pick call or keep it switched off. “Calls keep coming and if he responds every call he will be less a minister and more as telephone operator. People often call him for favour,” a close aide of HRD Minister Baidyanath Ram defended.

Nevertheless, Munda is aware that the communication gap of government with the media and the mass has proved too costly for the government. His plan of the interaction of his ministers with media at a regular interval of three months is the part of the strategy to bridge that communication gap. Munda began this exercise only a few days back when he faced the barge of questions over key and critical issues and complaints. It included his non responsive departmental secretaries and ministers who are either inaccessible or refuse to share even normal details of day to day administrative affairs or developmental projects.

“Secretaries are not authorised to speak to the media. They brief their minister and minister in turn are supposed to brief the media and people,” Munda had responded to this complaints. But then, Munda has no such mechanism or mesmerism to make the ministers media and people oriented; much in the line of the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar.

Munda is in an ambitious drive to let information flow on the public sphere has even planned to bring an IT law for the smooth flow of information. Munda after taking oath as CM last year had planned to hold day to day briefing of the departments that could not graduate beyond some media columns.

“CM may be busy but he regularly communicates and wants his ministers to maintain constant communication with the media and people that is the part of effective governance,” a CMO source said. Munda is easily accessible not his switched off ministers.

Banna’s poll battle on cyber space
Vijay DEO JHA

“Make your vote count. Vote for Banna Gupta, it is easier than thinking,common sense makes good government.”
Bleeping above is a convincing plea and an insistent relief from raucouspoll campaign by robust lungs in the Jamshedpur battlefield: a serial bannerinvitation to visit *http://bannagupta.com/*, the fledgling, but flourishingwebsite of the Congress candidate Banna Gupta.

The adversary quarters—the JMM, BJP, JVM and AJSU—might have encroached uponthe Jamshedpur battlefield by a juggernaut campaign by banners and buntings,the cyber space is an exclusive domain where Banna flaunts with 4552 visitless than a week time. His poll campaign on the cyber space is powered by‘Anmoul Web Solution.’

If you thought that Banna all did out of fancy, and an uncouth copy of hisparty bigwigs likes Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, think again.

“There is a vast invisible lost of voters mostly youths who keep tab overcampaign through mediums like internet. There are people for whom voting isnot just a matter of political allegiance who rather will demand a veryconvincing argument before casting their votes in their favour,” Banna said.

Unfortunately for him, Jamshedpur isn’t a web-saturated environment exceptits urban spares, sizeable numbers of electorates that matter the most, arelocked in hard-to-reach and no network area.

“I don’t claim that cyber can do all the campaigning for me…and I am notrelying on cyber only. I am visiting constituencies and constituents,” Bannasaid. Where network fails Banna ensures his footfall.

Call it his fancy, call it his claim; Banna connects Jamshedpur with Japanand Jamaica too. “There is world outside Jamshedpur also. There are a lot ofpeople of Jamshedpur living in Japan, Jamaica and other parts of the worldwho may be interested in knowing about election and candidates,” he argued.

But Jamshedpur’s minuscule web community not more than of the 10 percent ofthe total population is no damper to the team that propels Banna’s cyber-runuploading megabytes of campaign details and others.

The battle for Jamshedpur is less than a week away, but the conquest ofcyberia is being well ensured for ‘Banna. His adversaries like DineshnandaGoswami (BJP), Sudhir Mahto (JMM), Ajay Kumar (JVM) and Suman Mahto (TMC)are far behind.

Even world’s most powerful search engine Google seems to be in sync withBanna’s giant leap in the politics: 84,500 web result in a single hit; farfrom more than what his main rival Goswami yields—1770. Banna is aeons aheadof his competitors.

Rahul Gandhi may not oblige him by campaigning for him, Banna’s cyberpromoters are close to sealing a poll deal with electorates. Tap “Banna forJamshedpur” he will pop up along with Rahul. “Elect Banna Gupta time for anew generation of leaders to step-up,” it scrolls — must read it in contestof Rahul.

What others have scored on the Google hit, are, after all, very low whatBanna quickly achieved. But, even if Banna is poaching on his rivals withpredatory alacrity on the web space the real battle lies somewhere else.

Peacemakers swing into action after brickbatting

Vijay Deo Jha

Hawks in the BJP and the JMM have done their job with predatory swiftness; it is time for the peaceniks to play their role.After the JMM Ministers Hazi Hussain Ansari and Mathura Mahto and BJP MP, Nishikant Dubey; ticked-off each others party on the last few days of the election campaign of the Jamshedpur parliamentary byelection, leaders of both the parties have now decided to halt their offensive.

“Election me toka taki chalti rahti hai lekin yeh election tak hi hai, (During the election a bit byplay happens. But it is limited up to the election only),” a senior BJP leader said. But top BJP sources admitted that the attack of BJP MP Dubey against the JMM and Deputy CM Hemant Soren as anti-development was premeditated and political.

“The BJP considers the JMM as its chief rival in the election…but we were facing problem in attacking the JMM since we are coalition partners in the Government. We had to do this and Dubey did this for us,” source said. But another top BJP leader explained that the BJP was not the first to start war of words. “They were the first to start this. We just delivered them in measured riposte after they threatened the BJP to pull down the Government,” he said. The JMM MLA and Minister in the coalition Government Hazi Hussain Ansari led the BJP into provocation as during an election rally he threatened the BJP to pull down the Government if it least wished to dominate its wishes.

Ansari was ministering the fortune of his own party in the election and trying to stitch Muslim support behind the party. A non-stop counterattack soon followed from both the sides. Dubey labeled JMM and Hemant as anti-development explaining the people that the consort of coalition with the JMM was forced by the compelling political circumstances. The last two days of campaign remained so tense for the warring alliance partners that Hemant lodged protest with the Chief Minister Arjun Munda but also issued a public statement not dismissing an imminent Assembly election.
An enthusiastic JMM MLA and Minister Mathura Mahto even went on to claim the CM post for the party.But after initial bickering; both the parties have decided not to add more in the trust deficit and fragile coalition. After making a frontal attack against the JMM, the BJP bosses have privately called for restrains; fearing the election results of the Jamshedpur might have wider ramification on the health of the Government.What exasperated the JMM was a frontal attack of the BJP against Hemant. The BJP termed it unbecoming as JMM Ministers are speaking against the Government.

Sarangi quits BJP over denial of by-poll ticket

Vijay Deo Jha

A day before declaration of the result of the Jamshedpur parliamentary by-election, disgruntled BJP leader and former Health Minister Dinesh Sarangi resigned from the party, ostensibly because he was denied a ticket to contest the polls.

The former MLA from Bahragora sent his resignation to the party national president, Nitin Gadkari, on Sunday morning. "It was a painful decision but I was forced to make it. The BJP in Jharkhand is a one-man show run by Arjun Munda. I was neglected many times by the leadership. I was denied a ticket despite having mass support," he told The Pioneer.

Sarangi and the State BJP have not been on the same page for the last couple of years. Many-a-time, the story of his sour relations with Munda landed in the public domain with each speaking against the other.But this time the rift has widened beyond repair. Sarangi was a strong claimant of the ticket but a last-moment intervention by Munda who, according to the party sources, was authorised to decide the candidate, ruined his chances. Munda favoured the party's State president, Dineshananda Goswami for the ticket.A disappointed Sarangi withdrew himself from the campaign despite repeated requests from the party andSarangi quits BJP over denial of by-poll ticket also refused to take part in the election rally of the BJP which was addressed by Gadkari."Some BJP leaders tried to get me to join the campaign but I refused. My supporters were quite angry at my humiliation," Sarangi said. Though, the election result will be announced on Monday, party insiders indicated that it may suffer a substantial loss of votes in Bahragora. Ironically, Bahragora is also the home constituency of Goswami.Sarangi is yet to reveal his future plans but indications are that he will join the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha of Babulal Marandi under whose regime he had served as Health Minister.The party has served a notice to him alleging anti-party activities during the by-election in which he allegedly helped Jharkhand Vikas Morcha candidate Ajay Kumar against Goswami. Sarangi, however, denied having received any such notice.

Munda gets summons from Delhi
Ranchi
The BJP’s defeat in Jamshedpur by-election might not have been a big jolt to the party’s national executive but has ruffled enough feathers for the leadership to call Jharkhand Chief Minister Arjun Munda and party president Dineshanand Goswami to New Delhi for an explanation.Both Munda and Goswami reached Delhi separately on Wednesday where they are expected to meet party seniors on the sideline of the meeting of State BJP presidents across the country on Thursday.

Goswami was beaten by JVM(P) candidate Ajay Kumar by a huge margin in the by-election. Taking moral responsibility for the defeat, he has resigned from the party post. “But this is not the end of the matter,” said a central BJP leader, adding, “resignation is no answer to what went wrong. It is an indication of a fall in popularity of the party. It is a serious issue.” Both Munda and Goswami may have to face questions on reports of infighting and organisational atrophy of the party in Jharkhand. Losing a prestigious seat like Jamshedpur, which Munda had won with a record margin the last time, would not be easy to explain.It is yet to be seen whether or not the central BJP will accept the resignation of Goswami and bring a new president for organisational overhaul. Sources in the party said the State BJP in-charge Harendra Pratap, too, is likely to be summoned with a detailed report on the organisational set-up of the party.“It is amazing to note that despite the fact that the party has to fight the Jamshedpur election the organisational elections here were not conducted,” the source said. The point to worry for the BJP bosses is that there is an urgent need of organisational overhaul in the party in view of the parliamentary elections in 2014. A section of party leaders now want the party to come out of the coalition government and focus upon the party and organisation for a fresh start. “The Jamshedpur result is a sign of failure of governance. We are facing a serious challenge from JVM that can be countered only by expanding the base of the organisation. If the Government is your priority then you are going to lose more in coming days,” a senior central BJP executive member said. Leaders of the conflict-ridden Jharkhand Congress, too, have arrived in Delhi seeking postmortem of the election result and a change of guard in the party. Leaders, belonging to the camps of State Congress president Pradeep Balmuchu and Union Minister Subodhkant Sahay, are currently engaged in an open spat. The State Congress is expecting a change of guard very soon but disturbing reports of backstabbing party candidate Banna Gupta in the election have central Congress leaders in a tizzy. Even if Balmuchu’s departure seems

JVM jangles mighty in Jamshedpur *
Strap—No mandate against government, people expected us to stay united:Munda
VIJAY DEO JHA

Ajay Kumar of the JVM grabbed the strobe-lights with his rampage run in theJamshedpur parliamentary by-election thus hammering the political ambitionof the BJP, JMM, AJSU and the Congress with his stunning surge.

BJP state president and candidate Dineshananda Goswami’s maiden push forparliamentary election to regain Jamshedpur was so firmly repulsed that hemay not have an opportunity to recover, he has already submitted his fate to resignation. “I accept the verdict. I don’t knowwhat went wrong but I will resign from my post,” Goswami said.
Soon after the result coalition Chief Minister Arjun Munda held a pressconference refusing to accept that the result is a kind of mandate againstthe government.
“People expected the coalition partners to field a common candidate. We didnot press for it since we had no such pre-poll alliance. If you see thepercentage of votes that the coalition partners have garnered; thegovernment has not lost the election. There are certain other factors,”Munda said.
But some vital reasons of defeat were beyond the articulation of Munda. TheBJP’s pride cohesion of view and machinery became victims of various degreesof chaos. The dispute over candidature and BJP’s failure to prevent opendiscord or to discipline it, littered across the segments of Jamshedpurconstituency—Bahragora, Potka, Jamshedpur East and West; where it lostsubstantially against the JVM.
The message that widely traveled among the voters about the BJP was not thatof a cohesive alternative, it was the message of a party mired in its ownchaos, contradiction, conspiracy and confusions.
BJP probably confronted a much more complex set of challenges and respondedpoorly. “We started our preparation casually as if we are winning andelection is a mere formality. It is party organisation that contestselection. In Jamshedpur there was no party organisation since theorganisational elections were kept in abeyance. Larger view among the partyworkers was that Goswami is contesting as Chief Minister Arjun Munda’scandidate. He was snubbed by the voters and workers too,” a senior partyleader said.
Did Munda and Co. misread Ajay Kumar as politically too anodyne? BJP’s hopeof victory rested on a very confusing and dangerous notion about thedivision of Opposition’s vote. The probably missed to notice that the JVMchief Babulal is a macro manager who could play a political retailer also.
Kumar encashed his past popularity as a strict cop among the urban voters;Marandi stitched behind him the rural and tribal support. With around fivelakh tribal voters; Marandi had an open field to foray. Munda could devotelittle time to campaign. State Congress Pradeep Balmuchu remained neutraland negative in campaign with ominous grunts against his party candidateBanna Gupta. And when the result was declared Kumar had already set a newrecord by winning the Jamshedpur election by a margin of 1,55,726 votes;leaving Munda’s previous record far behind.
The Congress’ big claim as sole claimant of Muslim and urban votes liessplintered. Netting around 49,137 votes Banna was pushed to fifth positionafter the AJSU. AJSU despite the defeat has some reason to rejoice with99,058 votes. It is an unexpected expansion of the base of the AJSU.
The Congress can seek comfort in the deep discomfiture of the BJP. But thefine-print has created scramble and a blame game. “It the party has lostdeposit it is because some of the party seniors including Balmuchu haddecided so,” a senior party leader said. But a few things have made themwary. Babulal Marandi is more on “ekla chalo” note indicating seriousoverview to get rid of the compulsion of coalition politics with theCongress. The Jamshedpur result has added spokes in our wheels. “Let theassembly election come we will contest all 81 seats in Jharkhand,” JVMgeneral secretary Praveen Singh said.
Both the parties have publicly undertaken to review what went wrong withtheir respective challenges. Munda promised a review in the coming days, theCongress is set to boil with a review meeting the next week.

If there was a single message the election result handed over to thenational players, the regional players like JVM and the AJSU will hold-upthe ambitions of national parties. Nevertheless, for the JMM, a prominentregional party the election result brought stunning surprise. Its coretribal and Mahto constituents have drifted towards and JVM and the AJSUrespectively.
Even if coalition partners have lost miserably in this big-ticketparliamentary by-election, the government will remain safe. Munda hasassured this. Probably the ghost of Marandi will keep the flock together.For the BJP it is not an end. Having brought the party to its lowest perch,its leader may now have enough time and space to ponder for lowly as it is,this perch is also a lonely place.

EoM
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