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POLITICAL AGNI OR PRITHVI? |
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  With
the taking over of the Maharashtra leadership by veteran Maratha
leader Sushil Kumar Shinde as the new Chief Minister, who has already
proved his majority in the State Assembly very comfortably, political
missiles are ready to fly in the politics of Maharashtra. In view of
expected changes in political alignments and realignments, the fall of
the old titans and rise of the new titans, the interplay of the TINA
factor and the SITA factor is emerging in sharper focus. Things are
happening in regional politics of India which bode critical challenges
to the existing supermen and superwomen of the States and regions. The
emergence of Shinde is seen as a double-edged challenge. In
Maharashtra, he is being considered a strong countervailing force to
the Maratha hold and constituency of the National Congress titan,
Sharad Pawar. The so-called uncrowned king of the Marathas, Shiv Sena
Chief Bal Thackerey too would be feeling the radiation of the new
heat-seeker political missile, backed by the great launcher, Sonia
Gandhi. On the inter-State political field, Shinde is also being
considered an antidote to both Mulayam Singh and Mayawati as the
alternative leader of the non-high castes. The shadow of Shinde is
expected to loom larger and larger, not only in Maharashtra and
Gujarat but also in north Indian States like Himachal Pradesh where
new alignments are emerging in the context of the coming State
Assembly poll and Uttar Pradesh, where Mulayam has been so far twisted
and worsted by the 'maya' of Mayawati. It seems that the rise of
Shinde also marks a powerful launching of the SITA factor with a
strong array of political missiles. Which one will be launched first,
the short range or the long range one? The political Agni or Prithvi?
Speculators are agog all over the country. |
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TORTURED BY BHANUMATIS OF INDIAN POLITICS |
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Most
of the IPS and IAS officers in Uttar
Pradesh, and with the exception of Delhi, in other States ruled by
women Chief Ministers like Tamil Nadu by Jayalalithaa and Bihar by
Rabri Devi, feel hunted, hounded and tortured. Many of them have been
heard murmuring: "We are becoming a seriously endangered species at
the hands of political predators of the feminine kind." Is it the
negative side of gender politics boomeranging? It seems so. But even
more disturbing than the so-called witch-hunt, no gender disrespect
intended, said a grumbling bureaucrat from Tamil Nadu, the more
worrying for all is the wealth-hunt launched by political madonnas
with insatiable personal greed. Said a cynic: "The rule of the modern
Bhanumatis is proving to be the costliest and the most killing for the
development and economy in the States. Their sickening concentration
on celebrations of weddings and birthdays and hairstyling and
costume-parades is being carried out at the cost of turning the State
coffers empty and bringing development activities to a halt." Out of
their Pandora boxes—the English version of Bhanumati ki pitara—they
bring out every day fresh slogans of hatred, prejudice and conflict.
People in these States, the three of them accounting for almost
one-fourth of the country's population, must take steps to guard
against bankruptcy and starvation. There are murmurs within the
political parties which brought the "fairy queens of politics" to the
seats of crowning glory. Will they stifle the murmurers or will the
murmurs acquire the dimensions of public and political noise for
protest and change. One thing is certain, even these ruling madonnas
must realise that the age of ruling by slogans alone is fast fading.
What would be their next moves? Will they think up some more gimmicks
to get an excuse to spend public money for personal ego boosting or
image making?
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