AWAKENINGS

AnnaPal is Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011. ArvindPal is JanLokpal as drafted by civil societies. AnnaPal i.e. Lokpal and Lokayuktas Bill, 2011 was finally passed on 17th December 2013 in the Rajya Sabha and in the Lok Sabha on 18th December 2013. It is going to become an Act. It is a real positive step to put an end to the corruption prevalent in our government systems. The pressure built up by Anna’s indefinite fast at his native village had yielded results apart from the shock created by the debut of Aam Aadmi Party’s spectacular victory in the recently held Delhi Election. This bill was supported by all political parties excluding Samajvadi Party and Shiv Sena and also by by Aam Aadmi Party though having no representation in these houses whose main agenda is Jan Lokpal. This one year old party was selective in criticizing Anna, Congress and BJP - leaving other parties and even ignoring the two parties who had opposed the bill for their own specific reasons which to my

Satyameva Jayathe Arvind’s Achievements I had no occasion to send message in the recent past to state that “Truth had triumphed.” But Delhi public had given me a golden opportunity to declare - Truth had triumphed - by making  Mr.Arvind Kejriwal, a Common Man as their Chief Minister - and it is a proud moment for all law abiding, simple living, honest loving and corruption free Persons.  In Indian History, Swearing-in function of Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Aadmi Party as the youngest Chief Minister of Delhi State and his 6 young members as ministers on 28 th Deember 2013 at Ramleela Ground in the presence of a huge gathering at Noon will ever be remembered as a victory against  entrenched rotten government systems.   Wearing a Gandhian Cap with the inscription on one side - I am aam aadmy and on the other ‘Want Poorna Swaraj’, Arvind had conveyed to the whole India - that he has taken the post not as a CM, but as a Common Man. He had confirmed even in his first s

Munshi was India’s Agent General in Hyderabad before the Police Action.   The chapter opens with these tell-tale paragraphs:   The most ambitious of Indian Princes was the Nizam of Hyderabad who declared on June 12, 1947, that “the departure of the paramount power in the near future will mean that I shall become entitled to resume the status of an independent sovereign.” He also demanded the ‘retrocession’ of Berar, that had once formed part of his State, and started negotiations with Portugal to acquire the port of Goa, to secure an outlet for his State to the sea.   The Nizam had set his heart on becoming a “Third Dominion’ of the British Commonwealth. Sir Conrad Corfield, the Adviser to the Crown Representative, was reported to be its sponsor. It is possible that he himself had presented the idea to the Nizam in the first instance.   On November 29, 1947, after prolonged negotiations, a one-year Standstill Agreement was signed between Hyderabad and India. Sardar, in h

P a tel wanted the Congress to be a disciplined and democratic organisation in the making of modern India. He raised the dual membership issue and persuaded the Congress Working Committee (CWC) in 1948 to amend the party constitution prohibiting the existence within the organisation of other parties which had “a separate membership, constitution and programme”. The result was Congress Socialist Party’s (CSP) pulling out from the organisation. This weakened Nehru, who was closer to the CSP faction, and exacerbated his insecurity. He consistently attempted to impose his domination on the party organisation. In 1950, just before Patel’s demise, an intense struggle ensued to capture the Congress presidentship. Nehru unilaterally declared JB Kripalani his candidate against Purushottam Das Tandon supported by Patel. The correspondence between Patel and Nehru on Tandon shows their difference was ideological. Nehru criticised Tandon for attending a refugees’ conference in Delhi wh

Maniben Patel, Sardar Patel’s daughter, was a woman of tremendous honesty and loyalty. She told me that when Sardar Patel passed way, she picked up a book and a bag that belonged to him and went to meet Jawaharlal Nehru in Delhi. She handed them to Nehru, telling him that her father had instructed her that when she died she should give these items to Nehru and no one else. The bag contained Rs 35 Lakh that belonged to the Congress Party and the book was the party’s book of accounts. Nehru took them and thanked her.   Maniben waited expectantly, hoping he would say something more,but he did not, so she got up and left. I asked her what she had expected Nehru to say to her. ‘I thought he might ask me how I would manage now, or atleast ask if there was anything he could do to help me.  But he never asked .’ she explained.   She was extremely disheartened and in a way the incident revealed the strain in the Nehru-Sardar Patel relationship .   It was quite dis

The observations here are the extracts from the biography book written by K.P.S.Gill titled: KPS Gill: The Paramount Cop. Riots were at a peak in Gujarat; police was not able to control (the situation) and there were reports in the media that "The CM was ineffective for the challenge, or he simply lacked the will to stop this violence, or to say worse, he is himself, along with other BJP and VHP leaders, organising all these riots." Seeing the sensitive situation and the negative publicity it was generating for the BJP, L.K. Advani, the then  Deputy Prime Minister  and the Union Home Minister, was busy finding ways to end that mayhem. The situation was confusing since it was not becoming clear what the root cause of the problem was. Was it Modi himself or the ineffective administration of Gujarat! Anyway, the first priority of Advani was to end this violence at any cost... It struck Mr Advani that there was a man who was no more in active service but who was nev

Brief Profile:  Vidhya Subramanian, presently Associate Editor of The Hindu - is now Winner of Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Jourlalism Award  for the Best Commentary and Interpretative Writing for 2010. She is a PhD Research Scholar at the Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Her previous assignments: ·         Reporter with   The Indian Express   in Chennai in 1981 and then Correspondent  from Bombay and then Lucknow correspondent between 1988 and 1990. ·         Editorial Team of   The Times of India   in 1994. She joined   The Hindu   in 2004, and has been writing political editorials for the paper, regular commentary pieces, as well as continuing her reportage, particularly during elections. Ms. Subrahmaniam is a well-regarded expert on the electoral politics of the Hindi belt. She has written extensively on the politics of communalism, social justice, party politics dynamics, democracy and civil liberties.