Karnataka Bandh: A wrong step forward
Ironically enough, BJP staged a walk out on the very first assembly meet of the new government. The leader of opposition, Yeddyurappa was unable to provide an appropriate reason for his decision to stay out of this democratic process. And, on the same note, he has also gifted a ‘Karnataka Bandh’ on Monday, to the people of the state. This is a clear indication of the things to come from BJP’s side. The party has decided to post hurdles in the administration of the government. The Karnataka Bandh seems to have zero interest about farmers, and total selfishness of a political party that missed its date with the power. Their main agenda now is to get father-sons party (JD(S)) into some quagmire.
The occasion of trust vote of the new government held everybody’s attention for many reasons. Though the new CM Kumaraswamy was in the focus that day, the highlight of the occasion was former CM Siddaramaiah. He made a very touching and informed speech regarding the duty of a speaker before the election for the post took place. He referred to the greatest personalities of the past who had adorned the chair such as Vaikunta Baliga among the others. Finally, Suresh Kumar of BJP withdrew from the race and added a lot of dignity to that position.
Ramesh Kumar was chosen unopposed to that position and he conducted the session to seek trust vote with utmost dignity and grace befitting a veteran.
He praised Siddaramaiah’s visionary administration and his ability to run the government smoothly without any financial mismanagement. Though Siddaramaiah announced many welfare schemes, not a single cheque issued by the government bounced causing loss to the bearer. He meant to say though Siddaramaiah launched schemes especially for the poor, none of them took away the share of what’s due to the other members of the government. This is the biggest reward a CM could get from a speaker. This made Kumaraswamy turn towards Siddaramaiah and the entire session on that day was laced by this positivity.
On the other hand, Yeddyurappa’s speech immediately after lacked clarity and seemed like continuation of his campaign speeches. He reduced the dignity of the session. His desperation of having been unable to hold the reins of state administration despite 104 seat victory while HDK was sitting in the CM’s chair with mere 38 seats, must have pushed him to some limits.
He tried to split the government, with his speech. Surprisingly he praised Siddaramaiah, to drive the damage a bit deeper into the psyche of those sitting in the assembly hall. He said the results had ensured Parameshwar and DK Shivakumar came to the forefront, pushing Siddaramaiah to the background. He was highly sympathetic towards Siddaramaiah in his speech. He said Congress and its leaders need to hold on to their self respect, else the father-sons party would erode all their dignity by pitching leaders such as DKS and Siddaramaiah, Parameshwar among others, against each other.
This surprising change in BSY’s tone and tenor must have a solid reason. He knew he’d need the help of JD(S) should his party not garner enough number of seats. But, the overconfidence of BJP led the party into this situation today. While he sees HDK being the CM, BSY sees Congress as lesser enemy and JD(S) as a bigger enemy.
Hence, BSY spoke in a manner that he’d never need the help of JD(S) to form a government ever again. And also called for Karnataka Bundh, in the context of farmer loan waivers. This might come back to bite BJP because this bundh comes at a time when bypolls are being held. Though HDK had said he would do loan waiver, he is not in a position to take unilateral decisions owing to the fact that the state has coalition government. If BSY indeed had such love for farmers, why didn’t he push the central government into waiving off loans of farmers?
Having lost the trust vote, BSY who is also the leader of opposition is taking wrong steps. He needs to understand if he slips up, his own partymen would be more than happy to see him falter.
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Manmohan Singh 'tried very hard' to establish 'some kind of peace' with Pakistan: Former deputy NSA
New Delhi (PTI): During his tenure as prime minister, Manmohan Singh "tried very hard" to establish "some kind of peace" with Pakistan but it didn't work, former deputy NSA and his then-close aide Pankaj Saran said.
Singh, the architect of India's economic reforms, died here at the age of 92 late on Thursday.
Saran on Thursday termed Singh's passing as "very unfortunate", and described him as an intellectual, an economist of world standing, but also a "man who symbolised humility".
He was a consensus builder, a very simple man, "never expected to be a prime minister, but he served for 10 years," the former deputy National Security Advisor (NSA) recalled.
Saran, a 1982-batch IFS officer, had served as India's envoy to Russia. He had also held various positions in India and abroad, including the country's high commissioner to Bangladesh.
He was appointed deputy NSA in 2018.
"He (Manmohan Singh) was always a great listener, intellectual, an economist of world standing, widely respected. He was the first (Indian) prime minister at the start of the G20 Summit in 2008, and he developed a very high reputation among the global leaders, whose understanding of economics... All in all, I would say, a very fine person, a great human being, both in his personal life and officially," Saran told PTI Videos.
Singh greatly believed that India's future "lay in good relations with the West", the former diplomat said.
"Among the neighbours, he tried very hard to establish some kind of peace with Pakistan but it didn't work. But he tried and he was very disappointed that his efforts did not succeed. In fact, they were rebuffed with the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in 2008 when he was prime minister, and that really shook him up very badly," he recalled.
Singh also made greater outreach to the Gulf and he visited Saudi Arabia, one of the first prime ministers to do so, Saran added.
The veteran diplomat said he felt that Singh "gave India a very good image overseas of someone who was deeply committed to the country... building the country".
"After all, he was also the shaper of the economic reforms that began in 1991. He was the architect of those reforms, he was deeply committed to the growth of the Indian economy. In the foreign policy field, I think he will go down in history as the leader who changed the paradigm of India-US relations with his success of the nuclear deal with the US," he said.
"So, both on economic policy and foreign policy, he made a mark, as someone who was respected, but as an individual very understated, very simple man, willing to learn, willing to read, willing to understand," Saran said.
"He never tried to assert himself or shut down contrary opinions. I think he was one of the greats of the non-family Congress, and serving as prime minister for 10 years, outside of the family, was a huge achievement," he said.
