India Politics

 India Politics

Lok Sabha approves new Lokpal Bill by voice vote

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Lokpal Bill to create an anti-corruption ombudsman, according to reports. However, the government failed to get the two-thirds majority it needed to make the bill a Constitutional Body, like the Election Commission. A visibly angry Pranab Mukherjee, termed it as a ‘sad day for democracy’. The FM blamed the BJP for the incident and threatened them that "people will teach you a lesson," reports said. Just before the vote began, the SP and BSP parties staged a walkout and did not vote on the Lokpal Bill, reports said. The Bill will now be sent to the Rajya Sabha. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government has been the target of middle-class frustration with everyday graft and multi-billion dollar scandals in Asia's third largest economy. Anna Hazare, who began a three-day fast to coincide with the parliamentary debate, wants the ombudsman to have greater powers to investigate high ranking scammers, reports said. His health reportedly deteriorated on Tuesday evening as his blood pressure fell and his temperature rose above 102 degrees. The activist was already suffering from a viral infection before he commenced his fast.

Lokpal Bill in limbo as Rajya Sabha runs out of time

The extension of the Winter Session of Parliament turned out to be futile as despite the passage of the Lokpal Bill in the Lok Sabha, it failed to even be put to vote in the Rajya Sabha. According to reports, after a twelve hour marathon session, the Bill could not be put to vote as chaos broke out in the House half an hour before the Session would automatically end at the stroke of midnight. The House was adjourned sine die by Chairman Hamid Ansari in the face of stiff opposition and a verbal spat that broke out between several members, including the government’s ally Trinamool Congress. The bone of contention was that the BJP wanted the Bill to be put to vote immediately while the Government insisted it required time to resolve contradictory 187 amendments moved by the members. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal said that the government was willing to put the Bill to vote provided the House passed the Bill voted by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. This, in turn, meant that the amendments which the Opposition wished to move would have to be kept on the backburner.

Ayodhya land to be divided into 3 parts

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court ruled that the disputed land in Ayodhya be divided into three parts and be given to the Sunni Wakf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and the group representing 'Ram Lalla'. The land should be divided equally among the three parties. However, the three-judge bench said that the Ayodhya land is essentially the Ram Janmashtami and that the part under the Central Dome is the birth place of the Lord Rama. The bench comprising of Justice Sibghat Ullah Khan, Justice Sudhir Agrawal and Justice Dharam Veer Sharma delivered the verdict in Lucknow. The High Court ruled that the land on which the idol of Lord Rama was installed belonged to the Hindus and should go to them. But, there will be status quo on the Ayodhya land for three months. The title suits of Sunni WAKF Board and the Nirmohi Akhara have been rejected. The Babri Committee and the Hindu Mahasabha are planning to move the Supreme Court against the Allahabad High Court's judgement.

India Politics, India Real Estate

India Politics, India Real Estate

India Politics - Analysis - Jagannathan

This is a post by a member in one of the forums - Intriguing read

By Jagannathan

I have been very hesitant to post on political topics over here, simply because I have perceived this to be a place to discuss investment/equity market/economic topics and make ourself better informed and well off financially.. but this should be an exception.

At outset, let me say I wholly agree with you. Diversity of our country is our biggest strength and we must all try to maintain this at every cost. Fairplay is needed and crime and terrorism by any group should be treated alike. The little minorities dont really cause a threat to the majority religion, but add value to our overall understanding of our national heritage.

Having said that let me add this. This is purely my perception, apologies if i am wrong . AFAIK, the supporters of BJP/NDA are not all Anti -minorities . There are a number of reasons why people vote for them/support them. One of the foremost one IMHO is the lack of a serious "Non Socialist/Non Leftist/Non Family based" Right of center alternative . Our country was always one of the most well off in the past (notwitstanding our varous social problems , that is why British came here and ruled us). Now 61 years latter, we are very much at bottom of every index globally. We are a third world nation and we are there for too long. Why ? The hard reality is that our socialist and leftist orientation - NAM, Gubberment Micromanagement of economy, freebies, reservation without restraints and selective appeasement of groups (castes/religion/region) ,subsidies for everyone, has led to this. And a big of this mess is due to our current ruling party and family (which has ruled directly or indirectly 52 years and has ruled for almost entire history in some states like Maharashtra). The NDA rule was not a golden era, but they did get us on a different path on some things - NHAI, Telecom reforms and disinvestment and deregulation and Kalam.. for first time we moved forward (or atleast started). No wonder some people vote them, since they are seen as a breath of fresh air from 50 + years of socialist stink.

The culture of leftism that has been forcibly imposed has led to a huge lot of dissatisfaction. It is even now seen as a crime to speak against reservation (without restraints), against free enterprise and against subsidies. It is a crime to speak against women's reservation , against DV bill and like. Add to it the perception of selective favouritsm aka votebank politics - be it UCC or Afzal Guru or Jamia or Haj Subsidy or DV Act or Creamy Layer Politics , Bangla Illegals, 370 Article, Sachar Commission, Classical Language status and selective appeasement and selective importance to some languages, some countries,some festivals and states , you have a huge set of population that gets provoked. Add to it the irresponsible statements by someone most respected like MMS (Minorites get first right on national resources and like ) ...

Wish we had responsible conservative law abiding right of center party, which we dont have. The only thing they fall back on is the BJP/NDA. Poor choice indeed.

I dont say it is right and all... but the lack of alternatives in Indian democracy is sad. Even worse is our English Media, which seems to be obsessed with likes of Arundathi Roy and Pankaj Mishra and Chetan Bhagat and Javed and like people who are most divorced (culturally) from what Indians want for. So you know when all this happens, the elements like BD/MNS and like find a ready audience.

What is the solution? Some genuine alternative to the Identity and Socialist politics that has ruled us for most of our 60 years.Somebody who agrees that excessive government , susbidies, loan waivers, reservation, legal excesses (like Domestic Violence Act), are not the solution. We mus strive to correct our flaws of past (untouchability et al) , but that should go hand in hand with protecting our heritage (festivals, monuments like Sethu). Some party that takes conservative position, strives to protect heritage of our country, our country's identity , puts ahead of national interest (ahead of NAM and other Nehruvian disasters), and at same time accepts diversity of our country. Using tax revenues for well being of not well off is not a crime, but let it done by sensible ways (build more schools rather than IITs, link rivers rather than loan waivers, use more thrift instead of more tax) .And someone who believes that taking revenge on a segment of population because their ancestors were doing wrong, is not the way to build a civilised nation. Someone who believes in worshiping good policies than good personalities.Someone who agrees to limit free speech to curb hate speech and hateful literature (Taslima/MFH etc) because human lives are more important than artistic freedom .

I dont think any of our ruling politicians or our intellectuals or media can understand all this.... Anyway, At an individual level we can strive to follow these good principles . We are a relationship based society (and not a rule based society like west) and so individuals can also play their 2 cent role in understanding each other better and keep hoping things improve.