Parties have begun to prepare for elections. On one hand they are looking for coalitions to pose a strong challenge to BJP. Rahul Gandhi is in touch with regional political parties for the same purpose. Chandrasekhar of Telangana and Mamatha Banerjee of West Bengal are in talks on this issue. Leftists are still unclear about their stance. To cause major embarassment to BJP, Shiv Sena has been insisting on having Ram Mandir built soon as possible. Delhi government has somewhat provided answer to rumours that Congress would truck with AAP on the upcoming elections. Delhi government has submitted a plea to the centre demanding the withdrawal of Bharat Ratna conferred on Rajiv Gandhi because he masterminded the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. BJP has also joined hands with AAP on this.

It is rather easy to understand why this order was passed in Delhi assembly. AAP wants to break into Punjab and hence it has assumed the stance to repeal Bharat Ratna from Rajiv Gandhi's name.

Punjab is a very promising state for AAP apart from Delhi. The party wants to garner Sikh votes. Which means the party will fight elections in the near future with Sikh massacre as its moot issue in Punjab. But the most unfortunate aspect is Kejriwal has presented this issue before a PM who defends massacres. Delhi government is expecting those elements to facilitate responsible behavior and justice from the others, while the former didn't even apologies for the violence they created in Gujarat. That's a tall order!

Rajiv Gandhi hasn't assumed power when Sikh massacre took place. He had reportedly said “when a huge tree falls, it surely causes small damages” or something to that effect. At the same time, there are allegations that he had shielded those who were part of the massacre.

Hence Rajiv Gandhi's role was limited in this case. But when the Gujarat incident happened, Modi was the CM of that state. Amit Shah was the home minister. Media reports have repeatedly suggested how the government machinery was used to create and mastermind this massacre. And the man who stayed put on his chair of CM owing to Gujarat is the PM of India. Kejriwal surely is aware of all of this. With this plea by Kejriwal as the context, most BJP leaders in the centre are all set to sling some mud on Rajiv Gandhi themselves. Let's agree that Rajiv Gandhi needs to be stripped of this honor. At the same time are they ready to strip former PM Vajpayee of the honor of too? Because when the Gujarat massacre happened, Vajpayee was the PM.

While instructing Modi to follow the 'Raj dharma’, Vajpayee defended this massacre in his speech in Goa. Most of the senior police officers maintain if the centre had taken cognizance, the massacre could have been contained. Vajapayee also faced charges of outing the details of freedom fighters to the British and getting them arrested during the struggle for independence. If both names of Rajiv and Vajapayee were placed together, then this demand could have been a bit balanced. Rajiv Gandhi family has a deep bond with this nation. Motilal Nehru sacrificed all his ancestral property for the nation, during the years of freedom fight.

His son Jawaharlal Nehru not only took part in the freedom struggle but also became the first PM of the nation and took it towards progress in the initial years. Nehru's daughter Indira Gandhi was popular among people with her poverty eradication programmes. The boldness she showed in getting freedom for Bangladesh left the world dumbfounded.

She sacrificed her life to contain the terrorism in Punjab. She didn't ever have any animosity with Sikhs. If she did, she wouldn't have Sikhs for her bodyguards even after Operation Bluestar. If this is the background Rajiv Gandhi has, the only thing that follows Vajapayee are those tasks he did you favour the English during the quit India operations. The youth came into focus after Rajiv Gandhi became the PM. The digital era was ushered with his foresight. If we are roaming with two mobiles each, the dream that Rajiv Gandhi saw has a significant role in making this turned true and country was on a path to technological progress. But the Bofors scandal followed him like a shadow even when he had a reputation of being Mr Clean.

But the court said he had no role in that deal, in the case that continued after his death. He sacrificed his life for the sake of this country too. Having started something as indignifying as this against a leader who was the role model of youths isn't very complementary to AAP. Through this, Kejriwal has shown he isn't too averse to doing dirty politics and whatever it takes to win elections.

 

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Bengaluru (PTI): In an effort to end the logjam over the Governor's address that has stalled proceedings for the past week, Karnataka Assembly Speaker U T Khader on Wednesday ruled that legislators should not discuss Thaawarchand Gehlot or his conduct in the house, saying such debates send the wrong message to the public.

The House has witnessed repeated disruptions and adjournments since the session began on January 22 over the issue of the governor's conduct.

During his address to the joint sitting of the Karnataka legislature on January 22, Gehlot read out only three sentences from the 122-paragraph speech prepared by the state government.

The speech included criticism of the Centre for replacing the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with the Viksit Bharat–Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajivika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G), portions of which the governor declined to read.

Concluding his address in about two minutes, the governor left the house, triggering a commotion as Congress legislators attempted to gherao him and raised slogans.

While the opposition BJP accused the ruling Congress and its ministers of "insulting" the governor and demanded action, the treasury benches countered by claiming the governor had "insulted the National Anthem by leaving before it was played."

The house again witnessed heated arguments on the issue earlier in the day, leading to adjournment.

During the interruption, Khader held a meeting with ministers and opposition members to resolve the impasse.

When proceedings resumed, the speaker delivered his ruling.

Referring to the events of January 22 and the subsequent debate, Khader said the conduct and discussions had conveyed the wrong message to the public.

"Our conduct as members of this House and the opinions expressed must be in good taste and in accordance with constitutional provisions. They must uphold the dignity of the House and its members. We must introspect in this direction," he said.

He stressed the need for caution to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in the future.

"Let us end this matter here, continue the discussion on the motion of thanks to the governor, and refrain from discussing the governor or his conduct in this house," the speaker said.

Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka said the house should express regret over what he termed an "insult" to the governor.

Responding, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the situation would not have arisen had the governor read out the entire address.

"Asking the house to express regret is not appropriate. Why did the governor leave even before the National Anthem was played," Siddaramaiah asked.

BJP MLA S Suresh Kumar reminded Siddaramaiah that as Leader of the Opposition in 2011, he had asked then Governor Hansraj Bhardwaj to curtail his address.

Bhardwaj had subsequently placed the address on the table of the house, requesting members to treat it as read.

Siddaramaiah said the situation in January 2011 was different from the present one.

The debate grew intense, leading to another adjournment of the house.