We are Fighting to Form the Government in UP: Interview with Narendra Singh Tomar

BJP National general secretary and incharge of Uttar Pradesh Shri Narendra Singh Tomar is confident of forming a government in Uttar Pradesh. He says the party is fighting for number one position. Shri Tomar is among the party leaders who played a key role in energising the party activists at both micro and macro level. Organiser senior correspondent Pramod Kumar spoke to him in Lucknow. Excerpts:

What were actually the calculations behind bringing Babu Singh Kushwaha into BJP fold?

Shri Babu Singh Kushwaha is a very influential OBC leader of Uttar Pradesh. Before joining the BJP, there was no case against him. It was only after he came with us, the CBI raided his house and a campaign began against him. In fact, the real target was BJP and not Shri Kushwaha alone. He also understood it and he himself suggested the party leadership to put his membership on hold till he comes clean. It was following his request that his membership was put on hold by the party.

Before his joining BJP, there were attempts in the Congress to bring him into their fold. He even reportedly had several rounds of talks with Rahul Gandhi on this issue. But he could not join the Congress as his supporters in OBCs did not agree to it. They opined that they have traditionally been the supporters of BJP and it is better to go with the BJP only.

Now after a thorough discussion with his supporters Shri Kushwaha formed a Rashtriya Adhikar Manch to expose the BSP corruption. So far, he has organised hundreds of meetings in the state and is appealing the people to vote for BJP. The huge gathering turning in his meetings is a clear indication that the people of OBCs do not believe that he is corrupt and the allegations against him are politically motivated. There are about 10 per cent OBC voters in Uttar Pradesh and out of them the BJP is sure to get over 4 per cent.
 
Where the BJP actually stands today in Uttar Pradesh?

During the 2009 Lok Sabha elections the party bagged 19 per cent votes, which were 2 per cent more than the votes we got in 2007 assembly polls. Now after our sustained efforts we are sure to get at least 24 per cent votes. We need just 3-4 per cent more votes to form a government, which  we can capture from floating votes.


 
What are the main issues this time?

Development, good governance, corruption-free administration and snatching of OBC quota to appease Muslims are the four prominent issues. Our entire campaign is centred around these issues. These are appealing the voters too. There is clear and strong anti-incumbency against BSP and the people are not ready to give opportunity to SP. As far as the Congress is concerned, its ground network has totally collapsed. In this situation, only the BJP is the  last hope.
 
The party has announced to help the economically weaker sections of upper castes. How will you do it?

In our election manifesto, we have promised to set up a Samanya Nirdhan Varga Aayog to identify weaker sections among the upper castes. We have successfully done it in Madhya Pradesh. It is basically an attempt to help the needy people of upper castes get employment or start self-employment. There are some central government schemes which are meant for SC/ST/OBCs only. But in Madhya Pradesh we have added some additional fund from the state government in those schemes and implemented them for the people of all categories. It has been a good experiment. There is no lack of resources in Uttar Pradesh. What is needed is their intelligent utilisation of them.
 
There are reports of infighting in the  state BJP?

These are all media generated reports. There is perfect coordination among all our leaders. We know this election will decide the future course of national politics. It is because of our united efforts that we have been able to improve our base in the state. We are fighting this election to form a government. That is why we have infused all our strength. Some leaders from other states too have joined the UP workers in this fight.
 
But it is said some state leaders are unhappy over the entry of outside leaders?

Who is unhappy? The leaders who have come from other states are not going to stay here permanently. They are just helping the UP workers.
 
Rahul Gandhi also called Umaji an outsider?

Rahul Gandhi has no right to call anyone outsider. Umaji belongs to Madhya Pradesh, which is part of India. But Rahul’s mother has come from Italy. Before making such irresponsible statements he should appologise for the misdeeds that his party leaders committed during the last five decades, as they only looted the state and did nothing for development. Fact is that Congress has never been serious towards development. The backwardness and poverty seen in UP are deliberate and ‘credit’ for it goes to only the Congress.
 
How the tickets were distributed this time?

All the tickets were distributed after repeated feedback from the grass roots party workers. After the feedback from common workers, again a feedback was taken through district level workers. Some surveys were also conducted. Finally, the tickets were given to the candidates who can win.
 
Who will be the Chief Minister if the party comes to power?

The party has not taken any decision in this regard so far. The elected legislatures will select the CM.
 
What about Umaji?

She is our senior leader. The party will definitely be benefited from her experience and activeness in Uttar Pradesh.
 
Is there any possibility of post-poll alliance with any party?

We are firm not to join hands with any other party in Uttar Pradesh.

SOurce: http://organiser.org//Encyc/2012/2/12/INTERVIEW-OF-THE-WEEK.aspx?NB=&lan...

The Central Crisis: UPA Faces a Crisis of Ownership: Article by Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe

Nobody seems to be in charge of the Government, hence none is accountable !

Series of blunders, that too – regularly like a rail time table, increasing cases of corruption charges with prima-facie evidence against the Central Ministers and administrative goof ups mark the failure of leadership provided to the Nation by Congress. Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe takes a look at the crisis at the centre…

 

The way the UPA is being run, the way almost with unmistakable regularity blunders are being committed one after the other and the way persons at the helm of affairs continue to give a false impression of business as usual, one wonders as to who is the maai-baap of this Government. Is there a single soul around who would own up the acts of omission and commission of the UPA?

Serial blunderers at the helm of affairs of this Government have not only added to the overall cynicism but also severely damaged popular confidence in their ability to lead. No Government in the past had reduced itself into a virtual lame duck regime due to its own non-performance. In the 1980s, Mrs Indira Gandhi had at least promised a Government that works. Her daughter-in-law seems to be happy presiding over a Government that shirks.

 

Event after event, the Government seems to be in competition with itself as to how further messy can things be made. Anna Hazare and the complete saga of his Lokpal movement was the height of complicating simple things. The fact that none of the senior members of the Cabinet has had any brush with a popular movement became more and more telling when senior UPA functionaries appeared clueless in dealing with Team Anna. The Government could have easily rectified its initial mistakes by roping in the Opposition in the consultation process, thus making it a broad-based negotiating platform. As if the earlier mistakes were not enough, in the Winter Session the Government’s sheer inability on every front — from media management to floor management — was on full display.

 

Expectedly, the new year dawned with no fresh approach towards a better management of the multi-dimensional task of running a Government. The near total relationship breakdown with Ms Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress, the abysmal lack of tack and dexterity in dealing with the issue of date of birth of the Army Chief, and the highly disappointing weak-kneed approach in handling the Salman Rushdie visit are three cases in point.

 

Ms Banerjee is known for being unpredictable. After having agreed to play second fiddle to her,it was not difficult for the Congress to pre-empt some teething problems. Right at the beginning of the partnership, the Congress could have played hardball with Ms Banerjee, making her accept an institutional set-up like that of a coordination committee. Besides, the party would have lost almost nothing had it chosen to call it a day after her insulting treatment and reminded her that, like marriage, alliances endure only when both the partners realise the need for it.

 

The unseemly controversy over the date of birth of the Chief of Army Staff speaks volumes about the lack of the Government’s administrative acumen. The UPA leadership appeared devoid of foresight, essential for preventing any institutional damage such incidents cause. Forget preventive measures, even the semblance of damage control mechanism also seemed to have been in short supply. Was it inevitable? Were all the available options for avoiding this public controversy tried?

 

If mishandling of the Lokpal issue and the avoidable relationship-breakdown with the Trinamool Congress betrayed a sheer lack of political management, the dispute over date of birth of Army Chief brought to the fore the insensitivity and the lack of politico-administrative decision-making on the part of the Government. This ineptness by the UPA leadership is also seen as an insult to the entire community of ex-Army men.

 

As if all this was not enough, the Salman Rushdie episode was handled with abject lack of imagination. Perhaps, it was wrong on the part of the liberal fraternity to expect the UPA leadership to be taking a truly secular approach while dealing with this issue. The international literary fraternity realised that both the liberal establishment as well as the Government here readily crawl when, in fact, they are just asked to bend a little, when it comes to caste and community  politics. Again, adroit handling of this issue was certainly not all that difficult.

 

The latest is the series of crises emerging out of the multiplicity of approaches on the part of different arms of the Government is the controversy over Indian Space Research Organisation scientist Madhavan Nair. Merits of the case apart, how can the Government move without taking the head of the Prime Minister’s Scientific Advisory Council on board when the issue is so very sensitive and involves some leading lights of the nation’s scientific community? Besides, how can the chief of the Prime Minister’s SAC go public and assail the Government’s move so very brazenly?

 

At the root of this series of failures is a crisis of ownership. Whose Government is this, after all? Is it a Manmohan Singh Government managed by Sonia Gandhi from behind the scene or a Sonia Gandhi regime with governance outsourced to Mr Singh? Who owns this Government? Who is responsible for repeated mistakes? Are the Government officials and Ministers out to hoodwink us by pointing fingers at one another? Is there any internal assessment mechanism? In these days of acute power shortage, do the UPA leaders ever turn the searchlight inward?

 

Remember, a division of responsibility on the political and the administrative lines is not only meaningless but also against the popular interests. In an arrangement like this, one can hardly expect any accountability and transparency. In a situation like this, accountability is shrouded in mystery and transparency has become illusionary, as what is being seen is not what is happening in reality.

 

India has witnessed several coalition Governments in the past. UPA1 could easily pass the burden of its non-performance on the recalcitrant Left parties. But if UPA2 is delivering almost nothing, it is mainly because of the ‘mutually beneficial’ arrangement of ‘coalition of convenience’.  Once and for all, the nation needs to be told as to who is running this Government? If at all, who owns UPA2?

 

Source: http://en.newsbharati.com//Encyc/2012/2/6/The-Central-Crisis.aspx?NB=&lang=1&m1=&m2=&p1=&p2=&p3=&p4=

Day-24 Telangana Poruyatra

11th Feb 2012

Day-24 Telangana Poruyatra
		Sri G. Kishan Reddy’s Telangana Poru Yatra continued at Hyderabad Nizam's College grounds public meeting on twenty fourth day.

Day-23 Telangana Poruyatra

10th Feb 2012

Day-23 Telangana Poruyatra
		Sri G. Kishan Reddy's visiting the Sammakka Sarakka Jatara is the time for the largest tribal religious congregation in the world, held every two years (biannually), with approximately six million people converging on the place, over a period of three days, which is 90 km from Warangal city

Day-22 Telangana Poruyatra

9th Feb 2012

Day-22 Telangana Poruyatra
		Sri G. Kishan Reddy’s Telangana Poru Yatra continued in Khammam district on the twenty second day. At Bhadrachalam, river Godavari ends in Telangana. Kishan Reddy held pooja in river Godavari in the morning. Later he garlanded the statue of Godavari Thalli. This statue was erected in the memory of the poru yatra that started at Krishna river and ending at Godavari river.
Later on huge public meeting was held at Bhadrachalam. Many students attended the meeting. Prof. Kodandaram, senior editor Pothuri Venkateswara Rao, Doctor Gopalakrishna, senior leader of the party Dattatreya and BJLP leader Endala Laxminarayana attended the event. Kishan Reddy while speaking on the occasion said that it is Sushma Swaraj who has raised the Telangana issue for the first time in the Parliament. When she spoke on Telangana neither Sonia nor Manmohan Singh has shown any sympathy towards this cause in the Parliament, he said. He said that Sonia does not have any affection or emotional attachment towards the cause of Telangana. What all she is interested in making Rahul the PM and nothing else. Kishan Reddy also said that Chandrababu naidu has totally shifted his stand on Telangana after the December 9 2009 statement. His shift has made Central Government to go back on Telangana.  He said that BJP demands that the Telangana bill be placed in Parliament in the upcoming budget session and all the 166 MPs of BJP wouls support the bill. Otherwise, he said that BJP would form the Government at the Center on 2014 and would soon after form the Telangana state. Speaking on the occasion Prof. Kodandaram said that BJP has really done a wonderful program that has stirred up the movement in the post sakala janula samme period. He extended unequivocal support the yatra and congratulated Kishan Reddy for leading a successful program. Doctor Gopalakrishna said that people have heavy expectations on the BJP and congratulated Kishan Reddy for doing a program that has stirred up the Telangana movement. Pothuri Vebkateswara Rao speaking on the occasion said that he himself along with many people born in Andhra region are for a separate state of Telangana. He said that BJP has done this yatra at a time when people are put to confusion about the status of the Telangana movement. Later in the day, he held road shows at Sarapaka, Ashwapur and Manuguru. Huge crowds attended the meetings.

Day-21 Telangana Poruyatra

8th Feb 2012

Day-21 Telangana Poruyatra
		Sri G. Kishan Reddy’s Telangana Poru Yatra continued in Khammam district on the twenty first day. He held road shows at Vaira, Thallada, Enukuru, Kamepalli, Karepalli. Speaking on the occasion, he said that Open casting mining in Singareni Collaries has made the life of people miserable.
Not only does the lands get completely wasted and cannot be reused, it also causes loss of employment to thousands of Singareni workers. He said that the Congress leaders from the district are waiting in line to get ministerial berths and have completely ignored the Telangana sentiment and the cause. He said that not only both Congress and calso completely ignored the Telangana cause. He said that BJP would stand by them and fight for the due justice. Later in the day, meetings were held at Ellandu, Kothagudem, Palwancha. Huge crowds attended the meeting at Kothagudem. Many JAC leaders attended the meeting and extended their complete support. The last meeting of the day was held at Palwancha. Huge crowds waited until late in the night and cheered at the address of Kishan Reddy with enthusiasm. Kishan Reddy while addressing the meeting said that over 750 students committed suicides thus far and any more suicides cannot be tolerated. He said that BJP has tried to introduce the Telangana bill in Parliament thrice and the Speaker did not allow the bill to be placed in Parliament. It is a shame on the part of the Congress to drag on the issue, he said.