When under pressure, Congress has always resorted to undemocratic ways to suppress the voice of the opposition. Declaration of Emergency by Indira Gandhi to ruthlessly suppress the opposition is like the blood in hands of Lady Macbeth, which can never be washed away. Aware the country will not allow the party to resort to such tactics again, it subtly goes on with it’s efforts to stymie the voice of dissent. The union minister, V. Narayanswamy’s remark to tamper with CAG by making it multiple-member was a brazen attempt by the Congress to turn it into another institution controlled by the government. It was an attempt to take away CAG’s autonomy. However, under pressure from Opposition and even its allies, Congress and Narayanswamy have retreated. It’s the coalition era, which has once again blocked the Congress attempt to destroy institutions. “If we had majority in Parliament, we would have amended the Constitution and gone ahead with our plans on CAG,” said a senior Congress politician.
Spectrum Flop show The much hyped Spectrum auction has flopped. The government, which has been planning to raise around Rs 40,000 crore managed to rake in only Rs 9,400 crore. There were no takers for key circles which include Delhi, Mumbai, Karnataka and Rajasthan. The government failure to boost the economy was being viewed as one of the main source for this lack of enthusiasm. Only 96 bids of 1.25 mega hertz each came for 144 blocks, which were with new operators like Telenor, Videoconferencing and Idea. The failure to rake in the desired amount once again goes on to show the failure of this government on various fronts. A report states, “This is nothing but a stark statement of a once celebrated sector plunging into uncertainty.”
Mamata Bashing
She created history in West Bengal. They started looking up to her as its saviour. But with time the state chief minister and Trinamool Congress supremo, Mamata Banerjee seemed to be losing her grip. Her authoritarian moves to suppress the voic of dissent, her statements on rape, her failure to bring in investments are slowly changing people’s perception about her. She is proving to be a failure as far as law and order is concerned. In the second case of police firing in nearly 12 days a farmer again lost his life. This is the data of police firing under Trinamool regime. October 8 2011- housewife killed, December 1, 2011- two killed, November 6, 2012- five injured, November 14, 2012-one killed and one injured. With Mamata losing control, the Left and the Congress are smelling blood yet again. Efforts are on to work out a joint formula by the reds and the Congress to take on Mamata. And as far as the vote share is concerned, if the Congress and the Left strike an electoral alliance in the state, it is going to get tough for Trinamool.
IPL humdrum
Former IPL man, Lalit Modi’s run to evade the dragnet might just come to an end. On November 14, the Indian government asked the United Kingdom to send back Modi, since he was facing a multiple agency probe here. Modi left for London two years back citing threats to his life. His departure coincided with probes launched against him by ED, IT, DRI. The government has sent a note verbale (a semi formal diplomatic communication) to UK government. New Delhi informed the British government that Modi’s passport has been revoked and that he is required to be in India for questioning. ED has launched a probe against Modi on charges of violating various sections of the FEMA. The DRI summoned him for alleged import of an aircraft. The IT is probing some alleged “high value” transactions by Modi.
SP quick-fix
There are two versions of the UP chief minister, Akhilesh Yadav’s decision to withdraw money-laundering cases against the expelled leader, Amar Singh. While section claims that it was a move to mend fences with Amar Singh and bring him back to the party fold, the other version is completely different. It says that the Akhilesh government withdrew the cases not because it wanted to mend fences with Amar Singh but because they wanted to oblige Amitabh Bachchan. There are whispers that Big B is apparently one of the directors in about six firms that were owned by Amar Singh and were under investigation. If the noose of investigation is tightened, the Bachchans could not have escaped the heat and it was to save them from any kind of embarrassment that the Samajwadis decided to withdraw the cases even if it meant sending out wrong signals and benefiting Amar Singh in the bargain.
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