Cabinet expansion: The veiled discontentment
The very first labour of coalition government has borne great results. History has shown that even absolute majority governments often face challenging situations while distributing the power offices to MLAs, and this government is resting on a weak foundation in terms of coalition partners. Cabinet expansion is much like proving the trust vote second time over, just so that no one leaves your side and the government remains safe and sound. And just as it happens, dissidence too has set in among the berth aspirants who weren’t made ministers this time. Some had expected at least a handful of disappointed MLAs would go and join the other side that’s waiting for its chance. But with no such thing happening, those seeking some drama over this are being disappointed. The major achievement as of now is that the whole unit is staying together.
The baby of a cabinet that was born after this difficult labour, is healthy and happy. Even the mother is doing good! So this is a massive accomplishment. Dissidence in this context is running like an undercurrent now. CM Kumaraswamy has to continue functioning even amidst this chaos. Some MLAs in Congress have made their unhappiness over not being made part of the cabinet so evident that it can take the party by storm anytime now. As expected, Vokkaligas have got maximum seats in the cabinet. Even in Congress, the control indirectly exists in minister D K Shivakumar’s hands. Lingayats are in second position on this, while the man who spearheaded the Lingayat-separate-dharma movement in last government, M B Patil has been kept out of the cabinet. The Lingayat movement had created some massive strides in RSS circles because lakhs of people had come together demanding a separate religion tag for their community. This had created a massive division between Lingayats and Veerashaivas. Congress had to face the accusation of having tried to polarize in the name of separate dharma. Owing to the fact that Lingayats didn’t vote favourably for Congress, the party seems to have set this agenda aside for the moment and hence M B Patil has been ignored. Patil voiced his unhappiness rather openly too.
How will this influence the Lingayat movement in the coming days? Only time holds the answer for this. Another Congress leader Satish Jarkiholi, who is trying to build his own political force, has also been ignored in the new cabinet. Coming from a Dalit community, Satish has set up a secular brigade ‘Manava Bandhutva’ (Human bonds) and was a major aspirant of a berth this time. He is also economically very strong as well and can be a fit alternative for D K Shivakumar among the Dalits. Hence the Cong leaders are keeping Jarkiholi at a distance, by using his brother Ramesh Jarkiholi and made him the minister. Now obviously, one family cannot have two ministers! That’s a smart move. Almost inactive but influential leaders such as R V Deshpande have been successful in clinching a berth owing to their caste and economic prowess. U T Khader and Zameer have managed a berth each, representing coastal Karnataka. Having come from JD(S) Zameer had to be made the minister from Cong side, but one does wonder if he would have been given bigger responsibility had be stayed loyal to JD(S). H Vishwanath too is an aspirant in JD(S). He has played a massive role in defeating Siddaramaiah in Chamundeshwari. He has also been kept at an arm’s length now. Shamanur and H K Patil are among deserving ministers, but many others have been kept out of the berth. Datta should have been nominated to upper house. But all values have fallen flat before money power.
All those dissident voices are sure to blackmail the new government, with BJP using this to its advantage. CM Kumaraswamy will have to ensure he runs a government managing every elected representative. But then ever since he took oath, the second time CM has been busy conducting rituals after rituals and watching out for auspicious time for every government duty. Dalit leader Parameshwar who is the Deputy CM, has surrendered himself to Vaidika rituals completely forgetting the ideals of Ambedkar. The only ray of hope in this situation is Mahesh from BSP who has been given a berth. The community hopes he’d hold up their ideals for better future.
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Prime organiser of Messi event in Kolkata arrested over ‘mismanagement’ after stadium chaos
Kolkata (PTI): The police on Saturday arrested Satadru Datta, the prime organiser of the Lionel Messi football event at Salt Lake Stadium here, following widespread chaos at the venue, which prompted the Argentine World Cup-winning captain to leave the field early.
Taking suo motu cognisance of the stadium unrest, Datta was held by the Bidhannagar Police for “mismanagement” of the event from the Kolkata airport, where he had gone to see off Messi and his entourage on their way to Hyderabad.
"We are looking into whether there was any mismanagement from the organiser's side, which led to the chaos at the stadium. He has been detained, and the police have now brought the situation under control," West Bengal DGP Rajeev Kumar said at a press conference.
A senior police officer later confirmed that Dutta has been arrested. Till reports last received, the police were interrogating him and his manager inside one of the departure lounges of the airport.
The organiser has given in writing that he will refund the prices of tickets he sold to the disappointed spectators, Kumar said.
What was supposed to be a marquee football spectacle turned into widespread violence and disorder at the stadium after Messi’s brief and tightly ring-fenced appearance, his first at the venue since 2011, left large sections of the crowd frustrated, as they failed to catch a glimpse of their superstar despite having travelled from far and wide, paying hefty sums for tickets.
Police said they were also investigating how organisers allowed sale of bottled waters and beverages inside the stadium premises, which are banned items during such events.
Thousands of water bottles were used as missiles and lobbed inside the pitch by angry spectators, who also uprooted bucket seats from the gallery and used them as ammunition inside the field against the defending police and security personnel.
Spectators alleged that water bottles were being sold at a massive premium inside the stadium despite police disallowing such items from outside at the entry gates.
Police agreed there was an underlying tension in the galleries on account of Messi not showing his footballing skills on the field, which only got aggravated after a bunch of VIPs, including State Sports Minister Aroop Biswas and unidentified people, blocked the football icon’s view during the limited time he spent on the ground.
“We are on the job, and will ensure that whoever is responsible for what happened today at Salt Lake Stadium will be punished, and action will be taken against the authorities concerned,” said Jawed Shamim, ADG, Law and Order.
