BJP MLA says burqa has become a symbol of terrorism, calls for it to be banned

May 7, 2019

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Sangeet Som lashed out at the burqa in a video posted to his Facebook page on Friday, May 3, alleging that the burqa is “encouraging terrorism,” and calling for it to be banned. “Som also alleged that the burqa was now being used to sound a death knell to democracy in India,” the Indian Express noted.

In the video, which has been watched around 40,000 times as of writing this, Som said, “Loktantra ko khatam karne ke liye jis tarah burqe ki aad me farzi voting ki ja rahi hai usse Bharat jaise desh ko khatra hai (The manner in which fake voting is being done in the guise of the burqa, is dangerous for a country like India),” the Indian Express reported.

Som also took aim at acclaimed lyricist Javed Akhtar in the video, without naming him. Akhtar had previously said to reporters, “If you want to bring a law banning burqa here (in India) and if it is someone’s view I have no objection. But before the last phase of election in Rajasthan, this government should announce a ban on the practice of ‘ghunghat’ (covering of the face by Hindu women) in that State,” The Hindu reported. Akhtar’s remark came after Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamna called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ban the burqa in India, like Sri Lanka has done so following the blasts on Easter Sunday that killed hundreds.

In his video, Som said, “Kya kabhi ghunghat me aatankwad hua hai? Aap logon ko har cheez me sampradiyakta dikhti hai. Aisa kar ke aap tukde tukde gang ke saath khade hote dikhai deta hai aur unke liye prachar karte hai (Has there ever been any incident of terrorism in the garb of the ghunghat? You are seen siding with the tukde tukde gang and you campaign for them),” the Indian Express reported.

Som, who also highlighted the Sri Lanka blasts in his video, was asked in April about his colleague, BJP MP Sanjeev Balyan of Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh; Balyan had alleged that fake votes were being cast in his constituency as poll officials were not checking the identities of voters wearing burqas, Scroll reported. However, the Election Commission denied this, with the Uttar Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer L. Ventakeshwarlu telling PTI that a mechanism was in place to address this, and that women poll officials had been posted to check burqa-clad women’s identities, Scroll noted. Som was asked about Balyan’s claim, and alleged that fake voting by burqa-clad voters had happened earlier as well, adding that it was unfortunate, but it would not affect that BJP, ABP Live reported.

RTI Act: Public Authorities and Banks

May 7, 2019

A short survey of what judiciary says about them.

In landmark judgment, Reserve Bank of India v. Jayantilal N. Mistry, AIR 2016 SC 1= (2016) 3 SCC 525, the main issue for consideration before the Supreme Court was whether all the information sought for under the Right to Information Act, 2005 can be denied by the RBI and “other Banks” to the public at large on the ground of economic interest, commercial confidence, fiduciary relationship (of RBI with other Banks), on the one hand, and the public interest, on the other. Rejecting all the three arguments, the Apex Court held that the RBI & other banks, as public authorities under the Act, were bound to disclose the information related to inspection reports and other documents to the applicants.

The argument that disclosure would hurt the economic interests of the country is “baseless, unsubstantiated & totally misconceived”, the Court responded at para 61 of the judgment. There was no commercial confidence & fiduciary relation between RBI & other banks and that the relationship was purely statutory in nature, the Court said at paras 58-60, 62. The Apex Court discussed at length the legislative history of the RTI Act, 2005, its preamble, objectives & briefly it mentioned of structure of its provisions. It quoted the then PM of India’s speech in Parliament on the Act.

The RBI & other banks were, thus, directed to disclose the information to the respondents/citizens in the interests of the general public. It appears from latest developments that the RBI did not disclose the required information of annual inspection reports of banks, along with the list of willful defaulters, which was sought by the applicants under the RTI Act. Non-disclosure from RBI came under its “Disclosure Policy” 30.11.2016 that made certain information exempt from disclosure under the Act. The Apex Court vide its latest order 26-04-2019 took RBI’s non-compliance with its order dated 16-12-2015 passed in Jayantilal N. Mistry ante very seriously. So, the Court directed the RBI to withdraw its “Disclosure Policy” dated 30.11.2016 & divulge the information otherwise face the contempt proceedings.

The Court vide its order dated 26-04-2019 passed in Girish Mittal v. Parvati V. Sundaram , (2019) Supreme (SC) 498 reiterated its earlier opinion that while information under section 8(1) of the Act can be denied to the public to guard national security, sovereignty, national economic interest and relations with foreign States etc, the lower-level economic and financial information like contracts and departmental budgets should not be withheld under this exemption.

The Court observed that RBI had vide its Disclosure Policy dated 30.11.2016 directed various departments not to disclose information that was directed to be given by Jayantilal N. Mistry ante & that “though we could have taken a serious view of the Respondents [RBI & other banks] continuing to violate the directions issued by this Court, we give them a last opportunity to withdraw the disclosure policy… Any further violation shall be viewed seriously by this Court”. (paras 8-10, emphasis added). It is ultimatum given to the RBI by the Apex Court for non-compliance with its order in Jayantilal N. Mistry ante. RBI has said it will disclose the information pursuant to the top court’s hammer, as reported by dailyhunt on 27-04-2019.

Above is the law as on date regarding banking industry in the country. Let us throw some polemic light on the issue of what constitutes a “public authority” under the Act that is duty bound to disclose information to the citizens, in the light of judicial dicta. To start with, right to information emanates from the fundamental right guaranteed to citizens under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India which does not, however, explicitly grant this right inasmuch as right of privy is also not expressly mentioned in Article 21. Justice K S Puttaswamy (Retd) v. Union of India (2017) 10 SCC 1= 2017 0 Supreme (SC) 772 (Constitutional Bench of 9 Judges).

The theory of ‘implied bar’ does not apply to RTI law which has been enacted to give full scope to this fundamental right. Even the right to privacy fades out in front of this right in larger public interest. The “public authorities” under the Act cannot claim any immunity for disclosure of a so-called third party document/information as larger public interest outweighs private commercial interest under this law. So, RBI was bound to disclose the information about third party information that was deposited with it under the BR Act by the third party (Goa Co-Operative Bank). (Reserve Bank of India v. Shri Rui Ferreira, AIR 2012 Bom 1)

The ultimate object of the RTI law, as gleaned from its preamble & different provisions, is to achieve transparency and accountability with regard to affairs of a “public authority”, the definition of which being inclusive must be given liberal construction in order to advance objective of the Act. A body, institution or an organization, which is not a State within the meaning of Article 12 of the Constitution may still answer the definition of public authority under section 2(h) if the government holds ultimate control over its affairs & finances. (Agriculture Produces Market Committee v. Chief Information Commissioner, 2015 Supreme (Guj) 983); Sanjeev Kumar v. State of Himachal Pradesh, (2014) Supreme (HP) 954). The doctrine of deep and pervasive control based on the decisions rendered by the courts under Article 12 is not relevant for answering the question whether a body is a public authority for the purposes of the RTI Act. It is enough if it is shown that the authority is controlled by the government. (Indian Railway Welfare Organisation v. D M Gautamm, 2010 Supreme (Del) 395)

The “private bodies” directly or indirectly controlled by the government are covered under the Act. (Mulloor Rural Co-Operative Society Ltd v. State Of Kerala, (2012) Supreme (Ker) 311). The word “controlled” used in section 2(h)(d)(i) of the Act has to be understood in the context in which it has been used vis-a-vis a body owned or substantially financed by the government, that is, the control of the body is of such a degree which amounts to substantial control over the management and affairs of the body. (Thalappalam Ser. Coop. Bank Ltd v. State of Kerala, (2013) Supreme (SC) 943).

The word ‘substantial’, not defined in the Act, is not synonymous with ‘dominant’ or ‘majority’. It is closer to ‘material’ or ‘important’ or ‘of considerable value.’ ‘Substantially’ is closer to ‘essentially’, ‘just enough to avoid the de minimis principle’. (Ibid) Even non-government organisation that is substantially, directly or indirectly, financed by the funds of the government will fall within the definition of “public authority”. (Principal, M. D. Sanatan Dharam Girls College, Ambala City v. State Information Commissioner, AIR 2008 P & H 101); CSEPDI v. Tamil Nadu Generation & Distribution Corporation Limited, (2015) Supreme(Mad) 1521)

Even a private college that receives financial grant from the government is covered by the definition of “public authority”. (Committee of Management, Shanti Niketan inter college v. State of UP, (2008) Supreme All 999). Funds and finances come in multiple shapes to the public authorities from the government like equity, grants and concessions. For example, a bailout package of Rs 5,000 crore by the Central Government to the IFCI is substantial financing which answers the description of a public authority under the Act. (IFCI Ltd v. Ravinder Balwani, (2010) Supreme (Del) 570).

Where a company has been created under the rules framed by the State government which holds 49% stake in it, the government has substantial control on it and the company is “public Authority”. (Western Electricity Supply Company of Orissa Ltd v. State of Orissa, (2009) Supreme (Ori) 403). The criterion for determination of meaning of words ‘substantially financed’ is not less than 50% holding, though the company law gives significant rights even to those who own 26% of the shares in a company. (Bangalore International Airport Limited v. Karnataka Information Commission, (2010) Supreme Kar 149).

But where the majority of shares is not held by the government but by private persons and the government has power to ‘nominate’ just one director on the board of the body, it cannot be said that the government exercises any functional control over its affairs. (Agriculture Produce Market Committee v. Chief Information Commissioner, 2015 Supreme (Guj) 983 (a huge catena of case laws has been cited and discussed in this case).

It is not necessary that a public authority should have been created under a statute. It can be creation of Notification of the government. (Sri Kannikaparameshwari Co-operative Bank Ltd v. State of Karnataka, 2008 0 Supreme (Kar) 381). A bank not established under Notification of the State government with not a single director appointed by the government and all directors elected by the private share holders of the bank and the government having no substantial equity in it, cannot be a Public Authority within the meaning of the Act. (Panjabrao Deshmukh Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd v. State Information Commissioner, AIR 2009 Bom 75).

End word:

In view of the J&K Chief Information Commissioner’s order dated 24-04-2012, J&K Bank is a “public authority” within the meaning of section 2(f) of J&K RTI Act, 2009 for the following two main reasons: One, JK Bank was created pursuant to the late Maharaja’s Memorandum of 1939, Maharaja in whom all powers of legislative, executive and judicial nature were vested, ordering for the creation the JK Bank and as that Memorandum/Notification is protected under section 155 of the JK Constitution, it was creation of law. Two, three permanent directors including one as chairman-cum- CEO under the Memorandum of the Bank are directly appointed by the State Government.

The State does not enjoy similar power with other private sector banks. It may not be out of place to mention here that. Justice Y B Nargotra dissenting with majority opinion of two other judges in Firdous Ahmad Tanki v. J&K Bank Ltd, (2006) 2 JKJ 146= (2010) 7 JKJ 488= 2006 0 Sri LJ 1 has observed that as the majority of the share holding in JK Bank is held by the State Government, [presently it is 59% plus; read GK dated 12-01-2017 (Government of J&K today announced an amount of Rs. 532 crore as additional capital infusion in two tranches during next financial year to retain its strategic equity share of 53)] it is “fully competent and powerful enough to elect all the directors” because the minority share holders group is “in no position to influence the election of directors”. Non-government directors are elected by majority vote at the time of AGM if the vacancy has arisen.

However, the operation of that order has been stayed in a writ appeal filed by the JK Bank against it before the Hon’ble High Court of JK in 2012.

The writer is author of Inside the Vault (fiction) and six other books on law, including the two volume book on Law of Contract (Thomson Reuters Publication, 2016). He is an academician, story teller and freelance-columnist. He has contributed hundreds of narratives to multiple media channels.

Israel pounds Gaza, stoking fears of invasion

May 7, 2019

Just days after being sworn into Israel’s new parliament following the victory of his far-right bloc in last month’s elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorised a massive aerial assault on Gaza’s defenceless population, targeting at least 150 sites over the weekend.

In addition, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the most powerful military force in the region, used artillery fire to shell 200 sites in the tiny Palestinian enclave, including residential buildings, mosques, shops and media institutions, in a campaign that is set to continue for days.

According to Gaza’s health ministry, the victims among the 16 Palestinians killed included a pregnant mother and her 14-month-old baby, as well as at least eight militants. A further 70 Palestinians were wounded in the attacks.

Israel has admitted to carrying out a targeted assassination, saying its forces killed Hamas commander Hamed al-Khoudary with an air strike on his car. Three others were injured in the attack.

The Israeli government claimed that the 34-year-old leader was responsible for transferring money from Iran to terrorist organizations in Gaza. This was the first admission of a targeted murder since 2014. It takes place under conditions where Interior Minister Gilad Erdan is calling for a return to the policy of targeted assassinations.

One of the sites in Gaza City targeted by Israeli forces is a building housing Anadolu, Turkey’s state-run news agency. Although the building was badly damaged by at least five Israeli rockets, following the firing of warning shots, there were no reports of deaths or injuries.

Turkish President Erdogan denounced the attack, which is likely to exacerbate the already tense relations between Israel and Turkey. Last month, Erdogan called Netanyahu a “tyrant” after the Israeli prime minister referred to him as a “dictator” and a “joke.”

Erdogan tweeted Sunday: “We strongly condemn Israel’s attack against Anadolu Agency’s office in Gaza. Turkey and Anadolu Agency will continue to tell the world about Israeli terrorism and atrocities in Gaza and other parts of Palestine despite such attacks.” Presidential aide Ibrahim Kalin accused Israel of striking Anadolu Agency to “cover up its new crimes.”

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu tweeted: “Targeting of Anadolu Agency Gaza office is new example of Israel’s unrestrained aggression. Israeli violence against innocent people without distinction is a crime against humanity. Those who encourage Israel are also guilty. We will keep defending the Palestinian cause, even if alone.”

Netanyahu, who also holds the defence portfolio, said that the military would keep up its “massive strikes” on targets in the Gaza Strip in response to hundreds of rocket attacks into southern Israel from the Palestinian territory. He said, “I instructed [the military] this morning to continue its massive strikes on terror elements in the Gaza Strip and ordered [it] to reinforce the troops around the Gaza Strip with tanks, artillery and infantry forces.” He added, “Hamas is responsible not only for its attacks against Israel, but also for the Islamic Jihad’s attacks, and it is paying a very heavy price for it.”

Netanyahu’s statement has stoked fears of a ground invasion. According to Israeli media, senior defense sources say they expect the fighting to last for some time.

As usual, Israel’s patron, the United States, stood four-square behind Israel, condemning Gaza’s rocket attacks on Israel and declaring its full support for Israel’s “right to self-defence against these abhorrent attacks.”

The European Union for its part blamed the Palestinians and called for an immediate de-escalation, backing the attempts of Egypt and the United Nations to bring the Palestinians to heel. EU spokeswoman Maja Kocijancic said, “The rocket fire from Gaza towards Israel must stop immediately. A de-escalation of this dangerous situation is urgently needed to ensure that civilians’ lives are protected.” She added cynically, “Israelis and Palestinians both have the right to live in peace, security and dignity.”

The Arab regimes long ago made their peace, whether formally or de facto, with Israel, which they view as a key ally in the line-up against Iran.
This latest escalation of Israeli brutality against Gaza comes after Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in two separate incidents and injured at least 50 people taking part in last Friday’s protests near the Gaza-Israel border, which have been ongoing for more than a year. The protests are demanding the Palestinian refugees’ right of return to their homes in what is now Israel and the lifting of Israel’s criminal and inhuman blockade on Gaza.

The twelve-year siege—a collective punishment, which is banned under international law—has turned the enclave into an open-air prison for its two million inhabitants and deprived them of the most basic essentials of everyday life, including clean water, sanitation and electricity. This, as well as Israel’s three murderous wars on Gaza, which have destroyed much of its infrastructure, has wrecked the territory’s economy and made it almost uninhabitable. With the ending of US aid to the Palestinians via the UN Relief and Rehabilitation Agency (UNRRA), more than 50 percent of the population is unemployed and poverty is rampant.

Gaza’s health ministry reported that the IDF shot two people dead and killed two Hamas fighters in an air strike. The IDF said this was in response to a shooting incident on the border that left two Israeli soldiers wounded.

The IDF has killed at least 267 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since March 30 last year and injured 29,000 more, while Israel has lost just two soldiers. Many of the Palestinians are disabled for life. The UN Independent Commission of Inquiry that investigated Israel’s actions in Gaza during the protests stated that they “may constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity,” as snipers “intentionally” shot civilians, including children, journalists and the disabled.

Tensions have also been rising because of Israel’s failure to honour the terms of a deal brokered by Egypt, which Hamas, the bourgeois clerical group that has controlled Gaza since winning elections in 2006, had hoped would lead to an easing of Israel and Egypt’s blockade on the territory, in place since 2007.

According to Hamas, there had been some relaxation in maritime controls, increasing the fishing limit from six to 15 nautical miles, but Israel reduced the limit again last Tuesday after a rocket was fired from Gaza, without causing any damage. Hamas has also accused Israel of delaying the transfer of Qatari money to pay salaries for Gaza’s cash-strapped public institutions and of failing to ease the enclave’s crippling power shortage.

On Thursday, Israel struck a Hamas military compound after it claimed that balloons carrying firebombs and explosives had been launched across the border—again without incident.

The deaths, the self-evident futility of trying to reach any accommodation with Israel, and Israel’s constant provocations prompted Palestinian militants to fire rockets at Israel, breaking the month-long truce that followed Israel’s savage bombardment of Gaza last March. While the Israeli military said its Iron Dome defence system had intercepted dozens of the rockets, some got through, killing three Israeli civilians—the first civilians to die from Gaza rocket fire since the 2014 war with Hama—and wounding several others.

As hostilities escalated over the weekend, another Israeli was killed by rocket fire. While the Israeli media made much of the 83 Israelis requiring hospital treatment, at least 62 were treated for panic attacks.

With this latest brutal attack on the Palestinians, Netanyahu is seeking to demonstrate to his far-right allies that he is the most ardent defender of Israel’s security, including that of Israel’s settlements in the occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan. It puts paid to any notion that Israel seeks “peace” or even a modus vivendi with the Palestinians.

At the same time, Netanyahu is seeking to deflect social tensions within Israel outwards. Israel is among the most economically unequal advanced economies in the world and has the highest poverty rate of any country in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). It has seen a growing wave of working class strikes and demonstrations against the soaring cost of living, as well as a mass protest of thousands of people demanding an investigation into the fatal police shooting of a mentally unstable Ethiopian-Israeli.

Originally published in WSWS.org

Courtesy: Counter Current

$1Bn Spent On Irrigation For Rajasthan, But Barmer Remains 80% Rainfed

May 7, 2019

Barmer, Rajasthan: It was March 2019, and Pabusari village in Barmer district in western Rajasthan was parched. Another year of bad monsoon–the fifth–had failed 36-year-old farmer Hariram Meghwal, leaving him with no option but to migrate in search of work to ensure his family’s survival.

Women in Rohidi village in Rajasthan’s Barmer district walk at least 3 km every day to collect water from a public well. This situation is common in many of Barmer’s villages. In this arid western Rajasthan district, 80% of farms are rainfed despite the Rs 7,000 crore spent over six decades on irrigation projects for the state.

Meghwal had spent Rs 30,000 on sowing bajra (pearl millet), guar (cluster beans) and moong (green gram) on his six-hectare farm, but drought over successive years had laid it to waste.

Pabusari, about 90 km from the district headquarters, was among the 2,741 villages of Barmer’s total 2,775 to be declared ‘drought-hit’ by the Barmer district administration in 2018, based on a crop assessment report for the last kharif (winter cropping) season.

Meghwal, now working as a driver in Barmer city, said repeated droughts, with the resultant crop damage and financial burden, had spelt doom for farmers across Barmer, particularly as they had received no government support such as alternative employment, fair crop insurance payouts, or timely completion of irrigation projects.

Hariram Meghwal, 36, had spent Rs 30,000 on sowing bajra, guar and moong on his six-hectare farm, but drought over successive years had laid it to waste. Meghwal, now working as a driver in Barmer city in western Rajasthan, says repeated droughts, with the resultant crop damage and financial burden, have spelt doom for farmers across Barmer.

With more than 40% of India’s land area facing a drought and pre-monsoon rains during March and April having fallen short by 27%, this is the fifth story in our series on drought, and has been reported from Rajasthan. The previous stories can be read here, here, here and here. As in other drought-hit parts of the country, prolonged drought in Barmer and other parts of western Rajasthan is forcing farmers to abandon their fields to migrate to cities in search of work and sustenance. There is little help from the government, either in terms of immediate relief or long-term efforts such as completion of irrigation projects on time, farmers told IndiaSpend.

Many farmers we spoke to said since no party in government has been able to ameliorate farm distress, in the ongoing general elections, they would vote by caste or community ties. “We have been facing drought for a long time. When there is no crop, do such promises matter?” said farmer Prahlad Ram of Gadara Road area, now a daily-wage worker, of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise to double farmer income by 2022.

Drought in a desert state

Of Barmer’s total geographical area of 2.82 million hectare, 1.86 million hectare is cultivable. The net sown area is 1.79 million hectare. Of the total cultivable area, about 80% is rainfed, as per a local Krishi Vigyan Kendra (agricultural outreach centre).

In 2014, 1,451 villages of Barmer were declared drought-hit, when the district received 220.79 mm of rainfall against the average of 275 mm. This increased to 2,206 villages in 2015 and 2,478 in 2016.

Rainfall data for the last five years show changing rainfall patterns, and fewer villages were declared drought-hit in 2017–1,925. The average rainfall has since gone up, except in 2018, when 128 mm rainfall was recorded, less than half the average.

This uneven distribution of rainfall is evident nationwide: averages can mask new peaks and lows, as IndiaSpend reported on May 4, 2019.

Pradeep Pagariya, an agricultural scientist at Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Gudamalani in Barmer, explained the paradoxical situation of a drought in a year of more than average rainfall. In 2017, Barmer received 95 mm rainfall in June and 245 mm rainfall in July, but only 18 mm rainfall in August and no rain in September.

More rainfall but for shorter periods is a peculiarity becoming increasingly common–the monsoon period has shrunk from four months to two or even one in some years, Pragariya said, which has sent the largely rainfed crop pattern of the district into a tizzy as it leaves crops damaged during periods crucial for their growth, Pagariya told IndiaSpend.

Complete crop damage in 79% villages

In the 2018 monsoon, as Barmer witnessed 128 mm rainfall against the district average of 275 mm, crops worth Rs 1,200 crore ($173 million) were damaged across the 1.5 million hectare of cultivated land in Barmer.

According to the Barmer district administration’s crop assessment report for 2018, there was 100% crop damage in 2,191 villages in the 2018 kharif season; 503 villages are witnessing 75% crop damage; and 50% of crop damage is reported in the remaining 47 villages.

Farmers allege that crop assessment has been delayed despite continuous drought–the district received no rainfall until August 15, 2018, and crop assessment started only from September 15 and concluded on October 15, after which the report was sent to the state government.

Drought relief activities would commence on April 1, Barmer district collector Himaanshu Gupta told IndiaSpend, adding that the state government would set up cattle camps and fodder depots, and has sanctioned a contingency plan worth Rs 4.50 crore.

To implement this plan, the district administration in the first week of April asked gram panchayats (village councils) and gram sewa sahkari samitis (village cooperatives) to send proposals to set up fodder depots where subsidised fodder would be sold. By April 30, 516 fodder depots had been sanctioned, of which 400 had been opened.

Besides, 16 cattle camps have been opened and another 27 will be set up. Authorities have identified a total of 1,308 areas where severe scarcity of drinking water is observed and people are entirely dependent on government water supply. Water works department has been directed to ensure water supply to these areas through water tankers.

Women in Bhachbhar village, about 45 km west of Barmer city in arid western Rajasthan, collect water supplied by a tanker sanctioned as drought relief.

Government measures not enough

The state government, to compensate farmers for crop damage due to drought, has provided agricultural input subsidy to farmers for the 2018 kharif season with an upper limit of Rs 13,600 for up to two hectares of land. Meghwal said this compensation was not enough to ensure his family’s upkeep, particularly as successive droughts have exhausted his family’s savings and food stores.

In the city, he said, he earns Rs 7,000 a month, of which he sends Rs 5,000 back home. This would not suffice to support his four children’s higher education, once they pass out of the village government school, he said.

Alam Khan, a 46-year-old farmer with 12 hectares of land in Panela village, said he had spent Rs 65,000–gathered through a bank loan and from a moneylender–on sowing bajra and moong. He had received a fourth of this amount, Rs 13,600, as compensation for crop loss from the government. Khan was among the fortunate few who received a loan waiver of Rs 25,000. Yet, continuous drought had forced him to work as a daily wager and two of his three sons to take up driving jobs in Barmer city.

Alam Khan, 46, spent Rs 65,000 on sowing bajra and moong on his 12-hectare farm in Panela village in Rajasthan’s Barmer district. Khan received a loan waiver of Rs 25,000. Yet, successive years of drought have forced him to work as a daily wager and two of his three sons to take up driving jobs in Barmer city.

Smaller farmers such as Babu Ram of Jine Ki Basti and Prahlad Ram of Gadara Road areas said they were forced to borrow from moneylenders to sow crops, since bank loans were not available to them.

Forty-five-year-old Babu Ram said he had received Rs 13,600 as government compensation but had spent Rs 25,000 on cultivating his six-hectare farm. Unable to repay, he had moved to Balotra town to work as a daily wager–earning Rs 300 per day–while his wife tried to find work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). He said he saved most of his earnings to repay his debt. His two sons were in school.

Babu Ram, 45, a farmer with six hectares of land, moved to Balotra town in Barmer district in western Rajasthan, to work as a daily wager, earning Rs 300 per day. His wife takes up the occasional work available under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

Prahlad Ram, too, had turned to daily-wage work to repay the Rs 40,000 he had borrowed to cultivate his seven-hectare farm. He had two children–one studying at the village school and the other working as a driver.

Irrigation projects announced but not completed

Just 20% of Barmer’s farms are irrigated, primarily with tube-wells (63.73%), and some with open wells and canals.

Successive governments over the last six decades have spent more than Rs 7,000 crore ($1 billion) on different water projects to bring canal water to Rajasthan.

The Indira Gandhi Canal Project, conceived in the 1960s and having taken Rs 2,000 crore to bring it to Jaisalmer, is yet to cover Barmer, which is part of its larger plan to provide water to the district along with Ganganagar, Churu and Jaisalmer.

While lack of water and budgetary constraints are cited as reasons why the project was stalled in Jaisalmer, in Barmer, it is the new Desert National Park, spread over 3,612 sq km across Jaisalmer and Barmer, that is acting as a stumbling block, according to veteran journalist Shankarlal Dhariwal, who has covered development projects in the region for many years. Infrastructure projects are prohibited in the vicinity of the park.

Other projects planned to relieve western Rajasthan of its water woes–the Barmer Lift Water Supply project, the Narmada Canal project, Pokhran-Falsund-Balotra-Siwana Lift Project and Ummed Sagar-Dhawa-Khandap-Samdari water scheme–are at various stages of completion.
The Barmer Lift Water Supply project was planned in 1992 to provide water to villages in Barmer and Jaisalmer districts. More than half of the sanctioned Rs 2,203 crore has been spent at various phases of the project. Some of the targeted villages are already benefiting, government officials claimed, while requesting not to be named. Initially due in 2016, the project is now expected to be complete by 2022.

A Narmada Canal project, to connect with the Narmada Valley Project in Gujarat, was conceptualised in 2007 to benefit 1,634 villages across Barmer and Jalore districts at a cost of Rs 2,237.87 crore. Its deadline has been pushed from 2015 to 2020 as work has begun on only the first two phases of the five-phase project, though the canal has started providing irrigation water to some targeted villages.

The Pokhran-Falsund-Balotra-Siwana Lift project was planned in 2005 and Ummed Sagar-Dhawa-Khandap-Samdari water scheme in 2007 at a cost of Rs 1,454.20 crore and Rs 575.46 crore, respectively. While work on the Ummed Sagar-Samdari water scheme is expected to be complete by 2020, the Pokhran-Siwana Lift project has exhausted its allocated funds and is awaiting more from the state government.

Status of Irrigation Projects In Barmer
Project	Amount Allocated	Deadline	Completion Expected by
Barmer Lift Water Supply project (1992)	Rs 2,203 crore	2016	2022
Pokhran-Falsund-Balotra-Siwana Lift project (2005)	Rs 1,454.20 crore	2016	(indefinite)
Narmada Canal project (2007)	Rs 2,237.87 crore	2015	2020
Ummed Sagar-Dhawa-Khandap-Samdari water scheme (2007)	Rs 575.46 crore	2015	2020

Source: Public Health and Engineering Department data, Government of Rajasthan

Villagers in these areas told IndiaSpend they continue to depend on traditional water harvesting structures called beris, and open wells, most of which are now claimed by individuals who keep the structures locked and sometimes even paint their names on them to declare ownership.

Women in Rohidi village in Rajasthan’s Barmer district collect water from a public well. Most open wells are now claimed by individuals who keep the structures locked and sometimes even paint their names on them to declare ownership.

Almost all the water projects for the region are coming along at a snail’s pace, said T.D. Rathi, a former executive engineer with the public health and engineering department of Rajasthan who currently lives in Barmer. The reason is usually insufficient and non-timely fund allocation, or political meddling. The Barmer Water Lift Canal Project, for instance, was inaugurated by the Congress government in the state in 2003, and expected to be completed by 2007. However, in 2003, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government on assuming power halted the project for almost four years, only to once again inaugurate work on it in 2007, Rathi said.

Delays deprive the targeted beneficiaries, and lead to cost escalation. In 2003, the Barmer Water Lift Canal Project was expected to cost Rs 425 crore. Now, Rs 800 crore have been spent on its first phase alone, with three phases remaining.

Not enough work under MGNREGS

Nearly 1,100 villages in the district face drinking water shortage, with 200 villages dependent entirely on tankers in the absence of any drinking water source provided by the government, according to a recent report prepared by the revenue department based on a survey it conducted to assess the effect of drought.

Shortage of drinking water and fodder for cattle is one main reason why farmers migrate to neighbouring states such as Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab in search of work.

Even the provision of an extra 50 days of employment in drought-hit areas against the regular 100 days promised under MGNREGS has not prevented farmer out-migration. Data on the MGNREGS portal reveal that in Barmer, the government has been able to generate 56 days of employment every year on an average over the last five years, as against the promised 100.

In 2018-19, the state government issued job cards to 534,000 households in Barmer but could provide employment to only 306,000 households–a 42% shortfall–while a mere 14,809 or 2.78% of households worked for 100 days. The average wage rate of the past five years in Barmer has been Rs 152.08 per day.

Crop insurance, loan waivers leave farmers unmoved

The government has made efforts to provide drought relief by releasing funds under the crop insurance scheme, rebranded as Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure, amid claims that farmers would not need to worry about monsoon failure or crop damage anymore.

However, insurance firms in the district have made a practice of releasing a small part of the promised insurance claim, citing late sowing of crops as the reason, state agriculture department officials told IndiaSpend, asking not to be named.

After the 2018 monsoon failed, the insurance firm, TATA AIG Pvt. Ltd, offered to pay only 25% of the Rs 1,034.36 crore (Rs 258.59 crore) claimed by the district administration, according to Kishorilal Verma, deputy director at Agricultural Department in Barmer. This amount was Rs 120.29 crore less than Rs 378.79 crore collected by the company as premium.

TATA AIG said no crops were sown in the district before the August 15 cut-off, so it was liable to pay only 25% of the claimed amount. Deputy Manager for Tata AIG Pvt Ltd in Rajasthan, Shailendra Srivastava, was not available for comment.

Official data reveal that in 2018, 1.52 million hectare of farmland was cultivated, but a bad monsoon damaged crops on 1.22 million hectare and affected 557,000 farmers. Following the report, the state government compensated the losses of 390,000 farmers by issuing Rs 387.60 crore to them as agricultural input subsidy, as per the District Disaster Management and Relief Department. The farmers losing 75% to 100% of their crop got Rs 10,094 on average, those losing 50% to 75% of their crop got Rs 9,373 on average, and the farmers who lost 33% to 50% of their crop got Rs 5,159 on average.

Similar sums were paid out for compensation for crop damage in 2017 and 2016. The compensation is usually just a fraction of the sum farmers have spent, as farmers Babu Ram and Prahlad Ram said.

The state government also opened cattle sheds for livestock and sanctioned contingency plans to supply drinking water by tankers.

Farmers in the state are also entitled to interest-free loans, but continuous drought has kept many of them from paying back previous loans on time. Data accessed by IndiaSpend through sources in cooperative banks showed that around 550,000 farmers were under a combined debt of Rs 2,000 crore in December 2018.

When Rajasthan saw massive farmer protests ahead of the state assembly (legislature) elections in 2018, the then BJP government announced a loan waiver of upto Rs 50,000 to farmers holding up to two hectares of land.

Since a majority of farmers in the region hold five to 10 hectares of land, they did not receive waivers. Taking a cue from this, one of the first decisions of the new Ashok Gehlot-led Congress government that came to power in December 2018 was to waive farmers’ loans of up to Rs 2 lakh each.

During the BJP’s December 2013 to December 2018 term, Rs 415 crore farmer debt was waived in Barmer. The current Congress government’s loan waiver of Rs 683.92 crore is estimated to have benefitted 200,000 farmers in the district.

How will farmers vote?

Despite deep crisis in the farm sector, it is the local issues and caste that decide the elections in Barmer, political analyst Manoj Gujar told IndiaSpend, adding that the national issues or the mass appeal of leaders such as Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Congress president Rahul Gandhi have very little effect on people here.

Barmer voted on April 29 in the ongoing general election. It was untouched by the “Modi wave”, Gujar said, citing the example of the BJP candidate from the district, Col Sonaram Choudhary. The three-time Congress member of parliament switched to the BJP when the latter promised him a ticket, and won the 2014 Lok Sabha polls largely due to the caste-based support he enjoyed, Gujar said. He defeated a BJP-rebel candidate as well as former BJP stalwart Jaswant Singh, who had contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections independently.

Barmer farmer Alam Khan said he had voted for Jaswant Singh last time, because Singh and his son Manvendra had been helpful to his people and because his community votes as “suggested by our leaders”. Manvendra contested from Barmer on a Congress ticket this time.

Farmer Prahlad Ram, on the other hand, had chosen Choudhary in the last elections because “they belong to the same community”, a criterion he said he used in every election.

Hariram Meghwal said no government has so far been able to sort out farmers’ problems. With the governments and the rain gods repeatedly failing him, Meghwal said he would rather place his trust in his luck.

This is the fifth report of a six-part series in our series on drought, and has been reported from Rajasthan. The previous stories can be read here, here, here and here.

(Mathrani is a Barmer-based freelance writer and a member of 101Reporters.com, a pan-India network of grassroots reporters.)

Courtesy: India Spend

“The return of awards in 2015 still rattles those in power”

May 7, 2019

Renowned poet Ashok Vajpeyi speaks to writer Githa Hariharan for the Indian Cultural Forum about the role of writers in speaking up against intolerance and hate politics over the last five years — and contributing to the larger political churning against the current regime. In the context of the elections and its aftermath, he revisits the significance of writers returning their Sahitya Akademi awards in 2015; the murder of scholar and social critic MM Kalburgi; the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq; and the way ahead, post-elections, for citizens in general and writers in particular.

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

Spare Rajiv Gandhi at Least, Modi Ji!

May 7, 2019

Five phases of general elections are over, but Modi has no achievement to talk about.

In this episode of NewsChakra, senior journalist Abhisar Sharma criticises the recent statement by Narendra Modi about former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi. He says that five phases of general elections are over, but Modi has no achievement to talk about. This is why in his speeches, he continues to target former PM late Jawaharlal Nehru and Rajiv Gandhi.

Courtesy: News Click

BJP and Shiv Sena were not prepared for Raj Thackeray’s fact-checked rallies

May 6, 2019

Thackeray has not fielded a single candidate of his 13-year-old party, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), for any of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. That is why BJP and Shiv Sena could not prepare for the blitzkrieg that was to come.

Mumbai: The catchphrase of “Laav re video” (play that video) has become a hit on Maharashtrian social media. The man behind that phrase even more so.

Even without contesting a single seat in the Maharashtra Lok Sabha elections, MNS chief Raj Thackeray has become the sole bone of contention and opposition for the BJP-Shiv Sena combine. His series of rallies across Maharashtra coupled with fake news busting videos and an acerbic tongue caught the incumbent government by surprise before the fourth phase of elections that concluded polling in the state.

Thackeray has not fielded a single candidate of his 13-year-old party, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), for any of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. That is why BJP and Shiv Sena could not prepare for the blitzkrieg that was to come.

Thackeray did what nobody could imagine much less execute. He single-handedly threw the BJP-Sena alliance in Maharashtra off the rails. He spoke against the Modi-Shah duo to expose their alleged lies, took on its own main opposition Shiv Sena, did not take sides or ask for votes for any opposition party and managed to keep his core constituency happy by keeping his son of the soil narrative intact while also pleasing left liberals.

After the elections wrapped in Maharashtra, BJP’s rivals invited Thackeray to hold rallies in other poll-bound states. However, he is unlikely to move out of Maharashtra. Raj Thackeray received invitations from Congress, Janata Dal (Secular), Haryana Vikas Party and a couple of community organisations in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Karnataka to address rallies but he has rebuffed all offers because he achieved what he set out to do- create ripples in Maharashtra politics.

“The BJP attempted to take him on but without much success. Modi can neither join his fight nor ignore it. Fadnavis attempted to fill the gap but Thackeray demolished his arguments in following rallies; education minister Vinod Tawde asked the Election Commission to check Thackeray’s expenditure on rallies but that came to a cropper because Thackeray does not have candidates or their photos on the dais. The Shiv Sena is confused because Raj, its leaders’ bete-noire, speaks everything that Uddhav wants to about Modi-Shah, but cannot,” Economic Times reported.

“Raj Thackeray has nothing to lose,” said Bharat Kumar Raut, a political analyst to Sabrang India. “He has no stake or ambition in Lok Sabha. Even if he misses out in the assembly elections, he has nothing to lose. Both Congress and NCP reached rock bottom in 2014. The only way to go now is up,” he said.

So what did Raj Thackeray do to invite such a response?

Fact checking in rallies
Thackeray first unveiled a unique pattern with his annual Gudi Padwa (Maharashtrian New Year on 6 April) rally at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park. In the following two weeks, he spoke at rallies in Nanded, Satara, Ichalkaranji, Pune, Solapur, and Raigad, and sharpened his speeches for half a dozen more towns and cities before campaigning in the state ended.

He started with video presentations on the failures of the current dispensation by naming and shaming the Modi-Shah duo. He openly accused PM Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah of lying to voters and used statistics, newspaper reports and onground interviews by his party colleagues to convey their policy failures.

In his rallies, he criticized the government for corruption (Rafale jet controversy), compromising the judiciary (the death of Justice BH Loya) and independent institutions (resignation of RBI governors), withholding data (National Crime Records Bureau and unemployment statistics) and politicising cross-border conflict. At one point, he showed a photograph of a family a BJP fan-page has claimed were beneficiaries of Modi’s anti-poverty initiatives, Economic Times reported.

He then called the family on stage and said that the BJP IT Cell stole their private photo off Facebook and used it as part of its propaganda.

“I am running this campaign because these two [Modi and Shah] are a threat to the nation,” Thackeray said towards the end. “If you vote for the BJP, you vote for these two. If you vote for the Shiv Sena, you still vote for these two. If you want to ensure that democracy survives, you need to sideline them. Don’t forget this,” he said in his rallies according to the ET report.

Thackeray also fact-checked BJPs ‘first digital village’ of Maharashtra claim from Harisal. He also invited a youth who had featured in one of the government ads for Harisal, on his campaign stage.

According to Dhaval Kulkarni, a senior political journalist who writes about MNS, Raj Thackeray is trying to ride the anti-incumbency wave before the assembly elections. “He wanted to secure a political opening. He is a charismatic leader and a great crowd puller. He used the rising resentment within the Shiv Sena ranks to his benefit without even talking about the party. The Sainiks are showing signs of disillusion with their leadership due to the constant back and forth with the BJP alliance and the lack of clarity. Many Sena leaders have admitted in private that he is the only good influential opposition right now. He obviously benefitted the opposition but what he got was what he needed the most. The reactions from the crowd,” he told Sabrang India.

“Raj had nowhere to go. Had he contested now, he would have definitely lost. He would have lost his status as a force to be reckoned with in state politics. So the first shocker came when he said that he won’t contest. He then launched a campaign against Modi and Shah. He did not even mention Sena. With his oratory and crowd-pulling power, he held 23 meetings in Maharashtra. He put up a grand show which had about one lakh spectators at each rally. He had slideshows and ‘Laav re video’ became a popular catchphrase. He calculated every move and warmed up his chances for the October assembly elections. Had he contested, he would have lost and would nowhere to hide his face. Instead, now he is the hero of the whole campaign,” Raut told Sabrang India.

Didn’t he support BJP five years ago?
“Five years ago, Thackeray had voluntarily declared his support for Modi’s bid for prime ministership. It had come after a nine-day ‘study tour’ of Gujarat. The people of Gujarat, he had said at the time, were “fortunate” to have Modi at the helm, focussed on the development of the state,” ET reported.

“The bureaucrats I met were planted there to feed me [positive] information,” he said in an interview. “The overall picture emerged only later,” he said in his rallies

“For all his disdain for PM Modi, Raj Thackeray’s politics has more similarities with the PM’s than he cares to admit. Both parties revolve around the cult of a strongman whose profile and electoral fortunes rose following violent clashes between two communities. While Modi had de-emphasised his Hindutva moorings with a high-decibel narrative on Gujarat’s economic development in the run-up to the previous Lok Sabha elections, the MNS never completely shed its anti-migrant, xenophobic politics in spite of a successful debut in the Maharashtra assembly polls in 2009. By 2014, its seats in the 288-member assembly had shrunk from 12 to one,” ET reported.

“In essence, it is impossible to overlook the hypocrisy of Raj Thackeray calling out the BJP for divisive politics. But his onstage charisma, facility for oratory, and an innate knack for salty barbs and earthy humour, reminiscent of his uncle, Bal Thackeray, helps,” the report said.

According to Kulkarni, there is also an unconfirmed suspicion that BJP is also supporting him to divide the vote bank against Shiv Sena, which helps it cement its own singular power in the state. “Sena is an impediment to the BJP expansion in Maharashtra as both of them are essentially competing for the same vote base. It would be a natural progression to move onto the more famous and vocal cousin. In Maharashtra, it is difficult to say which way the voters will swing but small parties with a committed vote base can make a difference,” he told Sabrang India.

Sharad Pawar’s Game of Thrones
Political analysts credit Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar for Thackeray’s recent political revival. Last month, several media outlets quoted anonymous NCP leaders on their willingness to tie up with MNS. The deal, however, fell through after the Congress, its alliance partner, opposed it on ideological grounds. Even without an outright endorsement, it’s the Opposition led by the Congress and the NCP that stand to be the biggest beneficiaries of Thackeray’s popular tirades, ET reported.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called Thackeray a “parrot reading out Pawar’s script”.

“Who can blame him if he gets support from Sharad Pawar? Why wouldn’t Pawar want to ally with him seeing his success recently? It would be foolish to think that Raj is so impressionable and impish that he would parrot someone else’s script,” Kulkarni said.

Raut disagreed and said that would be wrong to assume that Sharad Pawar is behind this. “It was not preconceived. He came around after seeing the initial success of the crowd pulling rallies. Seeing the response, he encouraged Raj Thackeray. Everyone else simply jumped into the bandwagon.”

“Liberals or seculars seem to be enjoying Thackeray’s splendid performance. He has done his outsourced job perfectly, thanks to Sharad Pawar who convinced him to conduct a tour against Modi-Shah. Pawar is an astute politician who understands the strength and weaknesses of friends and foes. He knew Thackeray’s charisma would do wonders. He did not disappoint him, in fact with every public meeting, his attack on Modi-Shah became sharper. Initially, Pawar wanted Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena adjusted in the Congress-NCP alliance. But Congress did not agree by saying that it would drive away North Indian voters. Ironically, Congress leaders Ashok Chavan or former Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde were the first to demand for Thackeray’s mesmerising meetings,” Nikhil Wagle, a veteran journalist wrote in an article.

Modi had earlier targeted Pawar in the state during his visits as he is seen as the biggest player in Maharashtra politics and also had a key role in bringing the grand alliance of Opposition parties together against the BJP at the national level.

On Raj Thackeray’s rallies, Author Keshav Waghmare, who has a good understanding of Maharashtra politics said, “Pawar and Thackeray had planned these rallies in advance. This was actually for the state elections. Thackeray’s speeches are a rehearsal of Assembly election campaign.”

“Pawar and Thackeray are helping each other according to this plan. These speeches will help NCP more than the Congress in the Lok Sabha polls. By attacking Modi, Thackeray is also defending Pawar and improving his own image too for the upcoming state elections,” he said in a report by Newslaundry.

How do these rallies help Raj Thackeray?
According to Raut, Raj has played a smart trick. “If you look at his past, he came up with a wonderful promise. He won 13 seats. In BMC he got 727 seats. All the Lok Sabha candidates from his party had received 2 lakh votes each. He won the Nashik Municipal elections. The mayor of Nashik was his candidate. But he could not sustain that pace. In 2014, MNS had just one seat in the assembly and 7 seats in the municipal corporation. Out of which 6 people in Mumbai defected to Shiv Sena. Even the one seat in the assembly had defected. The Nashik municipal corporation collapsed,” he told Sabrang India.

“In the 2009 assembly election Thackeray’s MNS got 4.8% votes, won 13 seats which went down in 2014 due to Modi wave. This year, in the Assembly elections, if MNS is able to get its 2009 vote share back, it will be an important addition to the Congress-NCP kitty and can change the number game in the state. It can reduce the 8% gap in both alliances,” Wagle wrote.

Livemint reported that in 2009, the then-fledgeling party had bagged nearly 5% of the vote share contesting only 11 Lok Sabha seats but was the only party to drop its absolute votes in 2014 when all other parties had increased theirs. In the 2009 Assembly election, the MNS won 13 seats with a 12% state-wide vote share – including six seats in Mumbai with a staggering 24% vote share in the city – but dropped to one seat and barely three per cent vote share five years later. That lone MLA too deserted the party as it many of its second-rung leaders. Thackeray and his MNS were all but written off till his Gudi Padwa rally, the report added.

The opposition space in the state has eroded and Thackeray provided some much-needed succour.

“In his utterances, demeanour, and willingness to take on the powerful, Thackeray is now the main opposition voice in Maharashtra. He is doing the work, the campaigning, the activism, and the confrontation that the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) should have; his earlier parochialism, muscle-flexing methods, violence as a political tool are forgotten in the moment. The Congress and the NCP have, in a rare import from business to politics, out-sourced their work to Thackeray,” Livemint reported.

“That Thackeray, a political write-off in 2014, is now Maharashtra’s chief campaigner for opposition parties shows the paucity of imagination in Congress-NCP and erosion of the opposition space. In the 15 years of Congress-NCP governments till 2014, the BJP and the Shiv Sena vied with each other to be the principal opposition party. Between BJP’s Eknath Khadse and Fadnavis, and Sena leaders including Bal Thackeray and his son Uddhav, they made sure that successive Congress chief ministers were kept on their toes with exposes of scams and critique of policies,” the report said.

Maharashtra Assembly elections are only six months away and this was the best opportunity for him to revive his image and party which had all but vanished. As the Livemint report stated, if Shiv Sena sinks, he is ready to move into that space and if Cong-NCP offer him a piece of the pie, he will accept it. He has proved to be useful and showed that he still has skin in the game.

“He got more publicity than Uddhav Thackeray. His party got a second shot and his leadership came alive. On the other hand, he confused Shiv Sainiks who now don’t know where to go. Neither Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena or BJP were ready to accept him as a partner. He was a pariah and untouchable. The way he has pulled crowds, what can be said is that he will try for the Cong-NCP alliance, invisibly if need be. Congress will let MNS take the stronger seats where MNS has a stake like Thane, Nashik, Dadar, Mahim etc. Congress may field weak candidates from here,” Raut told Sabrang India.

It will be difficult to say if the crowds will convert to votes. “Even Balasaheb Thackeray was unsuccessful in turning crowds into votes. He couldn’t win a seat in elections. This time, if the Congress-NCP alliance sees any increase in votes or seats, the credit undoubtedly will go to Raj,” he said.

Bengal’s Rust Belt goes to Polls

May 6, 2019

On May 6 as India entered phase five of the general elections, three key constituencies; Barrackpore, Howrah and Hooghly went to polls in West Bengal. As fate would have it, even this round of polls was not devoid of violence with reports of clashes between cadres of opposing parties.

Barrackpore:
Barrackpore covers the industrial belt that lies in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. The area has jute mills, arms and ammunition factories including a division of Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL) that manufactures the Cheetah Chetak Helicopter. However, the region is only a shadow of the thriving manufacturing center it was during its heydays.

Barrackpore parliamentary constituency covers the assembly segments of Amdanga, Bijpur, Naihati, Bhatpara, Jagatdal, Noapara and Barrackpore. All of them fall in the North 24 Parganas district. This district is demographically diverse with over 25 per cent people practicing Islam. Scheduled Castes add up to just over 14 per cent of the population and as much as 40 per cent of the constituents are Hindi speakers.

A Marxist bastion, Barrackpore has voted the CPI (M) into power nine times! It has also voted for the INC thrice, but the last two elections have been won by the TMC. Incumbent Dinesh Trivedi was once Union Minister of Railway. The BJP has fielded Arjun Singh opposite Trivedi. Singh was previously with the TMC. The CPI (M)’s candidate is Gargi Chatterjee, while the INC has fielded Mohammed Alam.

Incidents of violence were reported from Barrackpore as polling began on Monday. BJP’s Arjun Singh alleged that he was attacked by TMC workers when he visited a polling booth. The BJP is now demanding re-election in the constituency alleging voter intimidation by TMC workers.

Hooghly:
A former Prtuguese, French, Danish and Dutch colony, Hooghly is now a part of West Bengals rust belt with multiple manufacturing units shutting down. Hooghly covers the assembly constituencies of Singur, Chandannagar, Chunchura, Balagarh, pandua, Sapagram and Dhanekhali.

According to census data, over 15 per cent of the people identify as Muslims, while just over 24 per cent belong to Scheduled Castes and over 4 per cent to Scheduled Tribes.

Though a traditional Marxist bastion, Hooghly has elected the TMC in the last two elections. Incumbent Dr. Ratna De of TMC is up against Locket Chatterjee of BJP. Meanwhile, the CPI (M) has fielded Pradip Saha and the INC candidate is Pratul Chandra Saha. The constituency also has a candidate Sajal Adhikari from the CPI (ML) Liberation. The Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) or SUCI (C) has fielded Bhaskar Ghosh.

There were also reports of violence during polling in Hooghly on Monday. BJP’s Locket Chatterjee alleged that state police were allowing rigging of the ballot in some booths in Dhanekhali. But the presiding officer of the booth said that Chatterjee entered the booth making allegation after over half the votes had been cast. Then a miscreant entered the booth and broke the EVM. Polling was suspended and people attacked some media vehicles.

Howrah:
This is yet another constituency that is part of a rust belt with its once famous foundries downing shutters. It is also an important rail terminus. It includes the three assembly constituencies of Howrah (North, Central and South), but also Bally, Shibpur, Sankrali and Panchla.

A traditional Marxist bastion, Howrah swung to the TMC in 2009. Incumbent Prasoon Banerjee of the TMC is up against CPI (M)’s Sumitra Adhikari and BJP’s Rantidev Senguta. The INC has fielded Suvra Ghosh.
TMC candidate Prasoon Banerjee was reportedly heckled at a polling booth in Howrah.

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BJP and Shiv Sena were not prepared for Raj Thackeray’s fact-checked rallies

Thackeray has not fielded a single candidate of his 13-year-old party, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), for any of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. That is why BJP and Shiv Sena could not prepare for the blitzkrieg that was to come.

Bengal’s Rust Belt goes to Polls

On May 6 as India entered phase five of the general elections, three key constituencies; Barrackpore, Howrah and Hooghly went to polls in West Bengal. As fate would have it, even this round of polls was not devoid of violence with reports of clashes between cadres of opposing parties.

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