Power Struggle In BJP

The newly elected president of Bharatiya Janata Party, Rajnath Singh, has appealed to his party colleagues to stop talking about the Prime Ministerial candidate publicly. Poor leader had left with no choice as everybody who is anybody in his party was thinking aloud and blaring out some or other name as the prospective candidate for the next Prime Minister of India. They included former Union Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha, former Union Minister Shatrughan Sinha and now suspended former Union Minister Ram Jethmalani.

Ever since the talk of impending parliamentary elections started making rounds in the country, the BJP leaders have jumped one by one into discussing the probable names of the next PM. They were buoyed by the recent victory registered by the party under the leadership of Narendra Modi. Since 1996, the BJP is fighting parliamentary elections, and to some extent even state assembly elections as well, by projecting some or other leader. From 1996 t0 2004, it was Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In 2009, Lal Krishna Advani was projected as contender. Now, a majority of the party workers look to Modi as their savior who could end their drought of power for 10 years.

It is true that L K Advani is till around the corner. But his name is not a sure-shot prescription for the electoral victory. Advani, a veteran of elections ever since India became a Republic, is 85 today. Though he is in good stead physically and his vigor for the post is well known, the defeat in the last elections under his leadership gave a heavy blow to his claim.

Another problem plaguing the party is it is nowhere able to come to power on its own. It leads a coalition of over a dozen parties, called National Democratic Alliance. Till now, because of its sheer size, BJP had an automatic claim on the PM's post. Within last decade, many of the coalition partners of the NDA have ruled their states, gathering appreciation and public support, and in turn became a good challenger for the post. Nitish Kumar, Chief Minister of Bihar, is one such example.

By bringing back Bihar to the path of governance after a long spell of virtual bankruptcy and lawlessness, Nitish Kumar has upped his stakes and looks towards the coveted highest post in the country, which is more than obvious. He sees Modi as a strong competitor and tries to undermine his standing by resorting to secularism. Modi, with his 11-year rule and appreciation from all quarters for his management of the government in Gujarat, has a major black spot on his robe in the form of riots in February 2002 which allegedly killed over 1000 Muslims in that state. Even though he has attracted quite a following among industrialists, political workers and in public, the media and intelligentsia are not ready to mend their fences with him and he is constantly reminded of this dark past.

During the assembly election campaigning last month, Modi constantly took jibes at Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, the mother-son duo of the ruling Congress party at center. It was an open gesture of reminding his party and others that his eyes were set on New Delhi. Being only Chief Minister of BJP who wrested victory for third consecutive term is an achievement which automatically catapulted him to the larger role. Even though BJP has a plethora of leaders at New Delhi including Sushma Swaraj, Arun Jetli et al, none of them command such a mass following as Modi. Hence, he becomes the natural contender for the PM's post.

Now the question is, would BJP leaders accept him as their leader. Rajnath Singh's appeal to stop the chattering is an indication that they have not as yet!

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After Tendulkar, Paresh Rawal Want to Shoot Politicians

Noted film and theatre actor Paresh Rawal created storm in Pune saying that he sometimes wants to become naxalite and criticized the politicians as very substandard people.

Rawal was felicitated in the city on Monday with ‘Pu La Sanman’. After the ceremony, he vented his ire through an open interview. When asked what does he think about today politics, he minced no words in venting his anger.

“What should I say? They are very third-rate people, mean creatures with no morality. After watching corruption around me, I sometimes want to join naxalites and shoot them all. I sometimes think why no revolution takes place in our country,” he said.

He added, “People like us who have money feel the hardships. What must the common people be feeling,” he said.

This reminds of the statement made by late theatre legend Vijay Tendulkar, who created a storm about eight years ago when he said that he wanted to shoot Narendra Modi. “If I had a pistol, I would have shot Narendra Modi,” he said during one of his famous interviews.

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Bad Omen : Sharad Pawar Praises R R Patil

Notwithstanding his criticism from opposition, Maharashtra’s home minister R R Patil was praised by his party boss. This comes within a month of his criticism for losing control over the former’s ministry. However, given the history of his praise, it bodes bad for the home minister.

Sharad Pawar, Union Agriculture Minister and president of Nationalist Congress Party, supported Patil for his handling the August 11 violence in Mumbai. Pawar said that Patil is a "capable" minister doing a good job. "Patil is a capable minister, who is doing a good job. He handled the situation well. The party is fully backing him," he told reporters in Pune on Wednesday. 

Pawar said the police handled the situation well to bring it under control as use of force would have resulted in many casualties. The praise evidently made Patil happy as he told a local news channel thanking his boss for the appreciation! Given Pawar’s penchant for making statements before taking a contradictory step, it is not a good sign for Patil. 

Pawar is known to make misguiding statements and then do exactly opposite. Seven years ago, when Chhagan Bhujbal, was deputy chief minister and was embroiled in the controversy over fake stamp scam by Abdul Karim Telgi, Pawar had similarly backed Bhujbal saying that he was clean. Within a couple of days, Bhujbal resigned on the orders from high command.

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City Congress Pays Tribute To Vilasrao Deshmukh

The city’s Congress workers and leaders offered their condolences to the demised leader, Vilasrao Deshmukh, on Wednesday after the flag hoisting ceremony.  His close associates in the city remembered the departed leader’s quality as a bankable friend who made great contributions to the development of the city.

 Deshmukh had a special affinity with Pune and it was during his tenure as CM that the city got three Minisers of State. Balasaheb Shivarkar, former MoS in Deshmukh’s cabinet and a close associate, said, “He was a leader whose actions matched the words. He would shower love on workers whom he liked and I was fortunate to be one among them. I don’t have own brother, but he loved me more than a brother. He kept to his word at any cost. His death is a great a loss to Congress party.”

 Explaining Deshmukh’s role in Pune’s growth, Shivarkar said while on way to Latur for Deshmukh’s last rites, “The roads, overbridges  and railway overbridges in the city came up during his tenure. Katraj by-pass and IT park at Hinjwadi were among two big examples. As CM, he helped the city during Commonwealth Youth Games. He loved Pune very much and reminisced often about the 11 years spent in Pune.”

 Ulhas Pawar, one of the closest associates of Deshmukh not only in Pune but in Maharashtra, was inconsolable. On his way to Latur, one of his aides said he was not in a situation to speak anything. Later, the MLC said that he could not believe that his friend of 40-42 years was no more.

 Chandrakant Chajed, also a former MoS and close friend of Deshmukh since his college days, “Deshmukh, Gopinath Mundhe and I were studying together at INS Law College. I used to send him off to stand for Latur on my scootes. His speciality was that he never distanced his old friends even after assuming prominence.”

 MP Suresh Kalmadi also expressed his grief over Deshmukh’s demise. In the condolence message, he said, “The untimely death of Union Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has saddened me. He was a very statesmanlike, studious leader with a great presence of mind who took everyone along with him. He was a mass leader in true sense. It makes me sad to lose a virtuous friend in him. He put Maharashtra ahead always as a Chief Minister. A visionary leader with a fighting spirit has been lost with his death.”

 Nationalist Congress MP Vandana Chavan also condoled Deshmukh’s passing away. In her message, she said, “Deshmukh was a cultured politician in state as well as country with a big heart. It is saddening that a leader who communicated directly with masses who steered state & country on the path of progress through able administration has been lost. Deshmukh often guided and encouraged the functionaries including me.”

 City party president Abhay Chhajed, convened the condolence meeting for the departed leader at 11 AM on Wednesday. A board was put up at the party’s headquarter Congress House  on Tuesday and also conveyed to the party members informing about the meeting.

 Ramchandra Bhuvad, a veteran of Congress party and Seva Dal, said, “The party’s flag can not be hoisted above the height of the national tri-colour. Hence, we removed the party’s flag from the building on August 9. Now, we are to hold the flag hoisting ceremony at 10.15 AM and then bring the tri-colour at half as a grief periodAfterwards, when the national flag is taken down, the party flag will be hoisted and it will also be brought at half.”

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Kite Festival Comes To Maharashtra

Giving a boost to the agri-tourism and trying to take advantage of the experiences elsewhere, the state is to emulate the Kite Festival way. For the first time ever, a Kite Festival will take place next month thanks to Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), the cultural department of the state and Agri Tourism Development Company (ATDC) at Baramati.

The kite festivals are organised in states like Gujarat and Kerala and it has brought windfall for those states. Taking a cue from those experiences, the same festival is to take place at Baramati from August 15 to 20. Pandurang Taware, CEO of ATDC, said, “The timing of the festival here will be different because traditionally the kites are flew in this season in Maharashtra. During the month of Shravan, an important festival of farmers Bail Pola takes place which is when kites are in vogue.”

In Gujarat and other northern states, the kite festivals takes place in January around the Makar Sankranti time. In Maharashtra, Bail Pola is celebrated on the new moon day (Amavasya) of the month of Shravan to pay respect to bulls. On this day, the farmers take out their bulls to the river and clean them after which they are decorated and moved around in procession. Villages have fairs and cometitions on the occasion.

“That is why we have organised the kite making competition. Along with it, the people will be encouraged to fly Vavadi, a variant of the kites. The event was organised on small level last year but it has been given the official status this year only,” said Taware.

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Frustrated Fort Lovers Start Repairing Fort Themselves

Frustrated over the inaction by authorities, the fort lovers and history enthusiasts took the repairs of the Sinhgad fort into their hands. They claimed that parts of the fort’s Kalyan Gate were collapsing continuously putting a question mark on the stability of the fort. That is why a group of the volunteers went up the fort and carried out the repairs of about 2 feet of the wall.  

About 50 members of Sahyadri Pratishtan had warned that it will rebuilt relics at the Sinhgad fort, about 30 kms from the city. The actually did the same on Thursday even as the state archaeological department opposed the act. Shramik Gojamgunde, founder of the organization claimed that the campaign was successful and the members repaired the tower at the Kalyan Gate. They also reported that a major portion of the tower along the door has collapsed fighting with monsoons.

“A major chunk of the tower collapsed last year and since then 10-15 stones are falling time and again. This has happened this monsoon also. All the stones which fell off from the tower were lying near the wall and steps going down to the Kalyan village. We removed those stones and piled them in a side so that they could be placed in their original place,” said Gojamgunde.

A team from the organization visited the fort on July 11 and found that outer wall and towers  at the forts are either fallen off or in the danger of falling off.

However, V N Kamble, assistant director of the state archaeology department, blamed the police for inaction. said, “The Sinhgad is a protected monument. The organization had given me a letter to repair the tower within 7 days but it could not have been done. A certain procedure has to be followed and our headquarter has to be conveyed. I had conveyed to him not to do this agitation and don’t harm the structure. I had informed the district collector as well as police officials but they didn’t take any action.”

The archaeological department has sent a team of experts on Friday to the fort to assess the situation. Kamble said the team will submit its report and then action will be taken against the organization for ‘vandalizing the monument’.  “I will first get the report and will talk to my seniors. By Monday, we will decide the future course of action. They could have adopted the fort which is legal way of conservation and approved by our department,” he said.

Kamble had told earlier that a tender of Rs 1.21 Crores has been floated and sent to the state government for approval. That tender includes the works of restructuring the Kalyan Gate, cleaning and desilting of the wells found on the fort and weeding out the bushes grown on the outer walls of the fort.”

The plans for the renovation of Sinhgad were in pipeline since 2005. The proposal was approved in 2005 and the actual work began in 2008. The budget allocated was Rs. 3.76 crore however most of the that budget has been  spent in making roads or other works rather than maintaining the monuments. The state archaeology department had prepared a plan for the renovation of Sinhgad Fort at a cost of Rs 1.5 crore. The work was to be completed by this May.

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Least Rains In This June

It is official now. As the June comes to end, it recorded lowest rainfall in this month during the last decade. The city has recorded only 34.5 mm of rainfall since June 1 which is only one third of the average rainfall for the month.

As per the India Meteorological Department, The average rainfall for the city in June is 116.1 mm. However, the rainfall recorded at Pune station of IMD since the start of this month was only 34.5 mm, at Lohegaon it was 25.1 mm while at Pashan station it was 34.4 mm. This trend is in line with other districts in the state where only 7 out of 35 districts have registered the average rainfall for this month.

The lowest rainfall in June for city during last decade was three years ago, when 117.5 mm rainfall was recorded. But the situation in 2009 was helped by 55.5 mm rains during the 24-hour period on June 6. This time around, the maximum rainfall did not go beyond 3 mm.

Meanwhile, scant rains in the catchment areas of the dams have helped the water scarcity situation a little. The Temghar dam has recorded 2 mm of rains and Warasgaon and Panshet dams have recorded 3 mm of rains overnight. This has meant an insignificant increase in the level of water in all these dams.

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