The sellers and the buyers
There seems to be a small relief to the mega saga of politics that was unfolding in the state in the last few days. The move of the governor who invited BJP to form the government has come under question. Instead of considering JD(S) and Cong coalition which has majority numbers of seats required to form the government, the governor had invited BJP which clearly lacks the numbers and had said the party will have 15 days’ time to show the numbers. Now the Supreme Court has ordered for a floor test to be held by Saturday evening 4 pm to show the strength of numbers, bringing a small relief to all those who believe in democracy. In the given situation, one can clearly say, this order was more than what we expected from the Supreme Court which has honored the governor’s words and has also reduced chances of horse trading by reducing time gap given for the show of strength by the BJP.
This has obviously been a discouragement to the office of Governor and to the BJP which tried to subvert the powers of this office. If the two weeks’ time as given by the governor was continued, the next two weeks in Karnataka would have been nothing short of hell. Hence, the ruling of the court has curtailed big chances of horse trading. If there is a majority in actual sense, it can be proved now. One need not seek two weeks’ time to shore up the numbers. A government, acting in haste, took some significant decisions to shift officers on transfer and acted on decisions of a few nominations too. This undue exigency in taking a few decisions is inexplicable and obviously these decisions have ulterior motives behind them. Hence the SC has insisted that the CM should not take any decisions on administration till majority vote is proved. The BJP leaders insist that they have the numbers and t’s just a matter of time to prove the majority.
Soon as he became the CM, Yeddyurappa withdrew the security cover around Eagleton Resort where the Cong and JD(S) MLAs were being hosted. This is a matter of concern since all elected representatives in one place demands high security cover, by the rule book. How would the lone-man cabinet explain should there be any attempt to harm the lives of elected representatives? All attempts have been made to subvert the democracy and buy out MLAs. If there are any supporters within that camp of JD(S) and Cong, who support BJP why would the party put pressure on them to come out and be on their side? Yeddyurappa has accused Congress of doing goondagiri on the MLAs. How does he know these details and how can be defend such statements? If any of the MLAs had complained against Cong for the same charges as the ones levelled by Yeddyurappa, the government should undertake serious probe into the matter. But then, what would one call the BJP leaders who are trying to hijack the MLAs from opposite camps?
JD(S) and Cong must remember one thing. It is obvious that BJP needs to buy the numbers. So long as they are bound to sit for a trading. But then, a transaction will be done only when there is a buyer and a seller. This ‘politics on sale’ is worse than sex trade. Prostitution has some amount of honesty in it. But politics has none of it. If this ‘sale’ continues, the dignity and prestige of Vidhana Soudha will be thrown into the drain, let’s have no doubt about it. It now depends on the keepers of the consciousness to ensure this does not happen.
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Trouble ‘Miyas’ everywhere only then they will leave Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Says “Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP are openly against them, we are saying it openly
New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that four to five lakh “Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls in the state once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is carried out. He also made a series of controversial remarks openly targeting the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam in a derogatory sense to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official programme in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma said it was his responsibility to create difficulties for the Miya community and claimed that both he and the BJP were “directly against Miyas”.
“Four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam when the SIR happens,” Sarma said, adding that such voters “should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh”. He asserted that the government was ensuring that they would not be able to vote in the state.
The chief minister was responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam. While the Election Commission is conducting SIR exercises in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing an SR, which is usually meant for routine updates.
Calling the current SR “preliminary”, Sarma said that a full-fledged SIR in Assam would lead to large-scale deletion of Miya voters. He said he was unconcerned about criticism from opposition parties over the issue.
“Let the Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma said. He claimed that complaints filed against members of the community were done on his instructions and that he had encouraged BJP workers to keep filing complaints.
“I have told people wherever possible they should fill Form 7 so that they have to run around a little and are troubled,” he said, adding that such actions were meant to send a message that “the Assamese people are still living”.
In remarks that drew further outrage, Sarma urged people to trouble members of the Miya community in everyday life, claiming that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”. He also accused the media of sympathising with the community and warned journalists against such coverage.
“So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.” He said.
The comments triggered reactions from opposition leaders. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep one community under constant pressure. Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the Constitution meaningless in the state, saying his remarks showed a complete disregard for constitutional values.
According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters. Election officials said 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed during the revision process. Authorities also claimed that verification had been completed for over 61 lakh households.
On January 25, six opposition parties the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(M-L) submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. They alleged widespread legal violations, political interference and selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, describing it as arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.
