Archives for 2018

 Pitted against Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bastion of Jhalrapatan, former Union Minister Jaswant Singh’s son Manvendra Singh is banking on Rajput “anger” and his father’s legacy to win the toughest electoral battle of his life.

A former Lok Sabha member and now an MLA from Sheo constituency in Barmer, he was nominated within a month of joining the Congress to fight Raje, a decision that surprised many — including the candidate himself.

“I wanted to contest the (2019) Lok Sabha polls but have been fielded by the party to contest the assembly polls. It is indeed a tough battle for the fact that I am new to Jhalrapatan while Raje has been winning the seat since 2003,” Singh, a colonel in the Territorial Army who saw action during the 1999 Kargil war, told IANS in an interview.

A small town in Jhalawar district, Jhalrapatan is among the most keenly-watched seats where the contest is as much personal as political.

Besides Muslims and Dalits, who form the bulk of voters in Jhalrapatan, the Congress by fielding Singh, is eyeing the sizable Rajput electorate which has traditionally voted for the BJP but has been increasingly growing disenchanted with the ruling party.

The Rajput discontent against Raje stems from the denial in 2014 of a ticket to BJP stalwart Jaswant Singh — a former foreign, finance and defence minister, party vice president and a close confidante of late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee — to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Barmer, his home district. The BJP had then fielded Congress turncoat and Jat leader Sonaram Chaudhary, who won the seat.

Jaswant Singh, 80, who lost contesting as an independent in the 2014, has virtually faded into political oblivion after a stroke after a fall.

The Singh family holds Raje responsible for denying Jaswant Singh a ticket in 2014 and by defeating the Chief Minister, it is hoping to “avenge the insult and humiliation” of the Rajputs by the BJP.

Even though he insists the “battle of Jhalrapatan” is a political fight between the Congress and the BJP, Singh, he, nonetheless, says it is “Rajput pride” — which made him quit the BJP and embrace the Congress — that is at stake.

“We have been consistently targeted by Raje and the BJP. My joining the Congress was not a personal decision but of the people of not only of Jhalrapatan but entire Rajasthan who are angry over the nature and culture of governance, years of misrule and humiliation,” he said.

Singh had in September announced quitting the BJP during a “swabhiman” (self-respect) rally in Barmer, where he had said “Kamal Ka Phool, Hamaari Bhool” (choosing the BJP symbol lotus was our mistake).

While conceding it was an “unequal contest”, Singh said it was also a battle against “favouritism and vindictiveness” and his weapons were the people’s anger against BJP, and his father’s legacy.

“No doubt it is an unequal battle, but sentiments of the people are equally important. It is a battle against years of vindictiveness, of humiliation. It is the anger against years of neglect and corruption — also, my father’s legacy — which will bring Raje’s downfall,” said Singh, asserting that Congress coming to power in the state was a forgone conclusion.

Over 600 km from his family turf Barmer, Singh, accompanied by his wife Chitra, has been actively campaigning in his constituency against Raje’s “incompetent and corrupt” government. Going from door to door, he has been trying to convince the voters about his “honest politics” as against the all-pervasive corruption of the Raje government.

The Congress campaign also revolves around stoking the anger of Rajputs who are deeply anguished at the Raje government over the killing of gangster Anandpal Singh in a police gunfight in 2017.

Alleging it to be staged, Rajput bodies like the Rajput Karni Sena and Shri Rajput Sabha had staged multiple demonstrations demanding a CBI probe.

The Rajputs are also miffed over Raje preventing Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat from becoming the Rajasthan BJP chief. Currently, Rajya Sabha member and OBC leader Madanlal Saini is the state party chief.

Jhalrapatan, along with 199 other constituencies, goes to polls on December 7 to elect a new assembly.

The results of the Rajasthan Assembly, along with that of Chhattisgarh, Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana, will be declared on December 11.

The current round of Assembly polls is being perceived a “semi-final” before the country plunges into the 2019 Lok Sabha battle.

IANS

 The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday confirmed the killing of LeT commander Naveed Jatt, who was wanted for the murder of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari, in Badgam district and called the Pakistani’s elimination “good news”.

Director General of Police Dilbag Singh said: “Yes, we have ground confirmation that one of the two terrorists killed in the Badgam encounter was Naveed Jatt.”

Naveed Jatt alias Abu Hanzullah was the most wanted Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander in Kashmir. He was wanted for the murder of “Rising Kashmir” Editor Bukhari in Srinagar on June 14.

Bukhari was killed by militants along with two of his security guards. Police believe Naveed Jatt was among the three militants who carried out the crime.

Belonging to Multan in Pakistan, Naveed Jatt had escaped from police custody on February 6 when he was taken for a medical check-up from the Srinagar Central Jail to S.M.H.S. Hospital in the city.

Two policemen were killed during Jatt’s escape from the hospital.

Dilbag Singh told the media: “More than two dozen militants have been killed in the last one week. They would lift boys and force them to join militancy. They would also torture them.

“Their elimination is good news for the peace-loving people.

“For the last two months, no new youth has joined militancy in the Valley. That is a welcome development.”

The police chief said that security forces do their best to ensure that civilians were not harmed during anti-militancy operations.

“Stone pelting incidents have come down. Lesser the number of militants, better for the people. Youths should desist from going to encounter sites.

“The militant outfits are unable to recruit more youths. With fresh infiltration, sometimes the number of militants operating here goes up,” he said.

The killing of Naveed Jatt is seen as a major success for the security forces.

Naveed Jatt was operating in south and central Kashmir. Intelligence agencies believe he was playing a major role in trying to woo youths towards militancy.

IANS

TDP founder N.T. Rama Rao’s granddaughter N. Venkata Suhasini, who is contesting the Telangana Assembly election from Kukatpally constituency in Greater Hyderabad, is banking on her lineage.

The presence of Suhasini in the electoral fray in Telangana is significant as the top leadership of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) moved to Andhra Pradesh following the bifurcation of the undivided state.

TDP has fielded Suhasini, daughter of former Minister N. Harikrishna, who died in a road accident this year.

Suhasini, 43, is a social activist and is banking on her lineage to win the election from this prestigious constituency, which has considerable a number of voters with their roots in Andhra Pradesh.

However, the family of the late actor-turned-politician NTR stands divided in the campaigning.

Suhasini’s aunt and Union Minister N. Purandeswari hit the campaign trail in Kukatpally not for her niece but for M. Kantha Rao, the candidate of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Purandeswari, daughter of NTR, was a Minister in the UPA government but she quit the Congress party and joined the BJP after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.

The TDP, which is part of opposition grand alliance led by the Congress, is contesting 13 seats in the December 7 election to the 119-member Telangana Assembly.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu is expected to campaign for Suhasini. Naidu is the son-in-law of NTR.

Paritala Sunita, a Minister in Naidu’s cabinet, was in the constituency to conduct road shows in support of Suhasini.

NTR’s actor son and TDP legislator N. Balakrishna has already announced that he will campaign for his niece. Suhasini’s brothers and popular actors Junior NTR and Kalyan Ram are also likely to address meetings in her support.

Suhasini’s cousin Taraka Ratna, also an actor, is campaigning for her.

Telangana’s ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) has fielded M. Krishna Rao, who won the 2014 elections from here on TDP ticket but later joined the ruling party. Interestingly, Krishna Rao’s brother Kantha Rao is the BJP candidate.

Kukatpally is like a mini-India with people belonging to various states and communities settled here. About 60 percent of the people have their roots in Andhra Pradesh.

The YSR Congress Party, which is the main opposition party in Andhra Pradesh, is not contesting the polls in Telangana. However, the party has declared its support to the TRS in Kukatpally.

As TDP is contesting the election in alliance with the Congress, the former hopes that the transfer of Congress votes will brighten Suhasini’s prospects.

In 2014, the TDP had bagged the seat with a margin of nearly over 43,000 votes. However, the equations have changed in the constituency with the deletion of 1.31 lakh voters after verification by the election authorities. The constituency now has 3.30 lakh voters.

IANS