‘Rebel’ Haryana BJP MP may Field Candidates in 2019 Polls
BJP’s Lok Sabha member from Kurukshetra, Raj Kumar Saini has declared that the Loktantra Suraksha Manch (LSM) which he floated some months ago, will contest all the 10 parliamentary and 90 Assembly seats in Haryana in 2019.
Many in the state BJP are of the view that Saini should be suspended for anti-party activities as they fear that he would affect the Dalit and Other Backward Class votes. But the central leadership seems to be in favour of a “wait and watch” policy for some time. They are studying his areas of influence. “It might be a blessing in disguise. He may help us in dividing the Dalit votes, in case they shift to the Congress,” says a senior BJP leader in New Delhi.
Saini told The Sunday Guardian that discrimination against a large section of society by previous governments forced him to set up LSM.
Apparently referring to the Jats, Saini said that a particular community, which comprises 10% of the population, holds around 50% state government jobs, while 90% have a small share. He blames former Congress Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda of misguiding society over reservation for a community, which was set aside by the court.
“I wish to end nepotism and give reservation to every category in society,” he said commenting that the name of his party would be announced as soon as it was registered. “The present BJP-ruled government has failed to resolve the issue. Instead of punishing arsonists, it rewarded them with jobs and relief,” Saini alleged. He was referring to the Jat agitation of 2016. Asked about the threat to his BJP membership, Saini said, “I am still in the BJP. The party can fire me whenever it likes.”
About Yogi, with prejudice
Something is definitely happening in Lucknow. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath seems to be rattled by the rising criticism against him in the media and from BJP’s allies. It looks like he is also aware of a whisper campaign within the party, questioning his ability to handle a huge state like UP. His close aides say that Yogi is confident of handling his rivals within the party. But he has decided to take the “media bull” by its horns. Many in the national capital were surprised when the CM’s media advisor, Mrityunjay Kumar, wrote a scathing opinion page article a few days ago in a national newspaper to counter a lady columnist’s views which appeared in the same paper earlier. Kumar wrote that her “indictment of UP CM is not backed by any facts”.
A former journalist, Kumar belongs to Yogi’s hometown, Gorakhpur. “When political analysis ignores facts and relies solely on received wisdom, the result is something like what she claims—‘Bad news for the BJP’. Her entire argument is based on discredited notions and misleading shibboleths. Her understanding of the situation in Uttar Pradesh is formulaic; it has little to do with the reality,” Kumar wrote.
In Kumar’s opinion, the problem with the critics in the media is that they are reluctant to see Yogi’s ground breaking initiatives. For instance, he points out that in 2017 Yogi ensured that English is taught in government schools from the beginning, thus “ending linguistic apartheid”.
“But if somebody wants to see only bigotry in Adityanath—or, for that matter, in anybody else—they can cherry-pick their facts,” wrote Kumar. We have learnt that Kumar has been asked by Yogi to write more often in national and regional newspapers, especially Hindi papers, to highlight the CM’s achievements and attack his critics in the media.
‘Junk the British royalty, head Commonwealth’
Amit Azad, grandson of freedom fighter Chandra Sekhar Azad, has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, suggesting that India should take over as the next head of the Commonwealth. He has sent this letter in his capacity as the vice-president of the Hindustan Republican Army (HRA), which was founded by martyr Chandra Sekhar Azad. Sujit Azad, the nephew of Chandra Sekhar Azad, is the president of the Lucknow-based HRA.
The Commonwealth was established as an intergovernmental organisation of 53 member states which got freedom from the British Raj. The Queen of England became the head of this so-called Commonwealth organisation, says Azad’s letter. “This practice is still continuing even after so many years and we strongly disapprove of this practice and why should the Queen or her nominee should head this organisation.” “If there is a necessity to have such an organisation, then we can have a special forum, wherein we can discuss matters of mutual interest and head of this forum should be chosen by rotation among the member countries with tenure of for two years and definitely not the Queen or her family members,”.
“All the countries have embassies in other countries. In the Commonwealth nations, these are called High Commissions, presumably to highlight their colonial power and only serve to bolster a sense of importance of Britain,” says Azad. “What is the logic behind this and why should there be two categories of diplomatic missions. They should be called Embassies only,” he has written.
Azad’s letter suggests that India should take over “as the next head of the Commonwealth” and should demand a rotation system so that every member country gets a chance to head the organisation.
What’s your occupation? Beggar, pimp or hired killer?
Like most states, Punjab too has a tenant verification system in place to check criminals and anti-national activities. However, a faux pas has happened at the Community Policing Resource Centre or the Police Sanjh Kendra, a subsidiary of Punjab police. The website for tenant verification has asked tenants to identify themselves from a long list of occupations. These occupations include: “beggar”, “pimp”, “hired killer”, “drug trafficker”, “bootlegger”, “smuggler” and “gambler”. This means that the web portal treats prostitution, for example, as an occupation as it allows a “prostitute” to apply for tenant verification.
When asked how illegal trades could be treated as occupation, Additional Director General of Police, Community Policing, Ishwar Singh said that those with a criminal record could select the listed options to inform the police about their past.
Realising a grave blunder on their part, a top Punjab police officer told The Sunday Guardian that there was a “separate column” for information on one’s criminal record. “The listing of some illegal trades as occupation was a mistake.” He commented, “How can a trade be treated as occupation if a person is facing an FIR on account of it?”
Man Mohan can be contacted at rovingeditor@gmail.com