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The story of BJP’s rise in the north-east

By
Aravind Ram
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The BJP and the RSS idea of a united India always had a special focus on the north east. RSS always feels that without bringing the north-east into the mainstream of India’s growth and development story, it is not possible to achieve its dream of a united India. RSS volunteers have been actively working in north east for several decades to simply remove the feeling of alienation among the people of north-east.

However, northeast generally doesn’t find a place in the mainstream discourse. It was treated in isolation. It was only post 2014 that the region became a part of our discussions which coincides with the BJP making inroads in the region.

Arunachal Pradesh

Arunachal was the first state to fall into BJP’s kitty. Because of internal differences within Congress, 43/44 Congress MLAs defected to PPA, a make shift party, before joining BJP en masse. Almost the entire congress leadership merged with BJP and Pema Khandu was installed as the Chief Minister. He completed his term and got re-elected as BJP CM in 2019, sending Congress out of the scene.

Manipur

Another instance of internal fight within Congress led to its split in Manipur. The Congress vice-president, Biren Singh had differences with the CM Ibobi Singh and quit the Congress to join BJP.

Post the Assembly elections, INC emerged as the single largest party. But BJP quickly cobbled up a coalition of anti-Congress parties and formed a government. After running the government successfully for almost 3 years, BJP engineered a defection within congress where 20 MLAs of congress joined BJP, thus giving a clear majority to the BJP.

Since it is a coalition of multiple parties, there were occasional rifts that required interventions from the top. When the National People’s Party left the coalition putting the government at risk during the pandemic, compromises had to be made to accommodate alliance partners. The political storm seems to have settled now. Nevertheless, from zilch to running a government, the BJP has come a long way in Manipur.

Tripura

Tripura was a different state. BJP’s opponent was not Congress but the mighty Communist who had ruled the state for almost 30 years without a break. Chief Minister Manik Sarkar was known for his simplicity. The communist philosophy of making the rich poor to bring equality worked very well in Tripura. Tripura was lagging behind in several development indicators and badly needed a regime change.
BJP was quick to capture the vaccum in the opposition space in Tripura. BJP had a poor vote share of just around 1%. The Trinamool Congress MLAs in the assembly defected and joined BJP. Several top leaders from Congress also joined BJP. Under the leadership of Sunil Deodhar “the selfless servant”, BJP was slowing building up its base in Tripura.

As the assembly elections approached, BJP went out lock, stock and barrel against the Communists. Amit shah himself led the campaign from the front, conducting several road shows. Modi held a couple of rallies which saw huge turnout. BJP won a landslide victory winning 44 seats out 60 ending the communist rule. One more state where BJP has currently become the numero-uno party.

Meghalaya

The tiny state of meghalya was a big challenge for BJP. The Hindutva party was having a tough time in the Christian majority state. The polity of Meghalaya is extremely fragmented with several political parties representing several tribal groups. For a 60 member assembly – there were around half a dozen regional parties NPP, UDP, HSPDP, PDF, KHNAM, MDF, NCP added to the national parties INC and BJP.

BJP could not get any pre-poll alliance with any of the parties as all the regional parties were afraid of losing their Christian votes.

Post the election, Congress could not get a majority and was trying to form a coalition government with the support of the regional parties. Before Congress could even make a move, BJP swiftly met the governor with the letters of support from the dozen regional parties.

With the power of the Central government and anti-congress stand of the regional parties, BJP was successful in dethroning congress from yet another state in the north-east. Though Congress has lost power, it still is a strong force in the state and though BJP could come to power in a Christian majority state, it is still a minor player in Meghalaya politics. Only time will tell whether BJP will be able to engineer a split within Congress and grow its base in this state.

Nagaland

Yet another Christian majority state but here the challenge for BJP was not as difficult compared to Meghalaya. The Naga People Front was the single largest party of Nagaland. Neiphiu Rio, the former Chief Minister revolted and formed a separate party – DPP. BJP applied the Arunachal formula and DPP became a “nationalist party” – NDPP.
Before the assembly elections, both the regional parties (NPF and NDPP) were willing to join hands with BJP. But BJP decided to go with its friend NDPP. The alliance was a success and BJP was able to win 13 seats in the 60 member assembly.

The election results presented a unique opportunity for BJP as it became the kingmaker. Both the regional parties (NDPP – 20, NPF -26) once again sought the support of BJP to form government .BJP upheld its commitment with the NDPP and formed the government. Congress which was once the major opposition party in the state was totally wiped out from Nagaland as it failed to win even a single seat.

Even though BJP could not become the king, wiping out Congress from the state and becoming the king maker in a Christian majority state is a huge achievement for the BJP.

Mizoram

After making significant gains in the Christian majority states of Meghalaya and Nagaland, BJP’s next target was Mizoram – another Christian majority state. The two term Congress regime was facing a heavy anti-incumbency. It was certain that the Congress would lose power in the state but BJP was not the beneficiary of this.

For a state where the Church plays an important role in politics, it was very hard for the BJP to make inroads. But with power in the centre BJP could not be ignored by the regional parties. The minority Chakma tribals (mostly Hindus) were backing the BJP.

With a tacit understanding with the popular regional party, the Mizo National Front (MNF) ,BJP contested the elections alone and won its first ever seat in Mizoram’s history. Congress was crushed and could not even become the main opposition party.

Though the journey for BJP could be difficult in this state, the journey has at least begun on a positive note.

Sikkim

Politics in the tiny state of Sikkim has become very interesting after the arrival of BJP .Pawan Kumar Chamling the 5 term Chief Minister ruled the state for almost 32 years virtually without any opposition. In his last 2 decades, anti-incumbency started setting in and Sikkim Kranthikari Morcha (SKM) started gaining ground.

In the recent assembly elections, Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) fell short of majority by 2 seats. BJP failed to win even a single seat. Though the SDF was a part of NDA, BJP swiftly broke the alliance after elections. SKM with a majority formed the government.

As usual BJP engineered a split within the SDF. 10 out of the 13 SDF MLAs joined BJP,2 MLAs joined the ruling SKM. Pawan Kumar Chamling was the lone MLA left in his party. From 0,BJP jumped to 10 in the assembly and joined the Sikkim government.

This is a unique state where Congress never had any major role in the state’s politics. From nowhere BJP has become the ruling party.

Chanakya of north-east

Himanta Biswa sarma  is the man behind BJP’s rise in the north-east. He was a former Congressman but later quit the party tired of its dynastic politics and lack of opportunities to grow. Because of his rivalry with Gaurav Gogoi, son of his former boss – Tarun Gogoi, Himanta decided to take revenge on the Congress by knocking them out of northeast. Congress lost power in all the states of north-east within a span of 5 years.

Himanta formed the NEDA – North East Democratic Alliance – a rainbow coalition of several regional parties of north east. NEDA cemented the position of BJP as a main player in the politics of north east.

Northeast in Modi era

Narendra Modi as PM has ended the several decades of neglect and alienation of north east. He has instilled the feeling of belonging among the people of north east.
He has initiated several development projects like bringing railway, road and air connectivity for the first time to several north eastern states. His Act East Policy, electrification scheme, decentralization of power to tribal groups, eliminating insurgents and solving several local conflicts by signing BODO Accord, Naga Accord, Chakma resettlement etc have transformed the lives of the people of Northeast.

Is ‘Rewa Solar Project’ Asia’s largest solar power plant?

By
The Commune
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (June 10) dedicated the 750 MW Rewa Solar Project’ to the nation reinforcing the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India).

In his address he said that Rewa which is associated with the Narmada river and White Tiger will also be known for Asia’s largest solar power project from now on.

Home Minister Amit Shah too tweeted thanking the Prime Minister for dedicating Asia’s largest power project to the nation. 

Soon, print and online media houses started publishing reports of the inaugration of “Asia’s largest solar power park” at Rewa.

The Commune too carried an article with the headline “PM Modi dedicates Asia’s largest solar project to the nation”.

Congress party leaders took to social media to express their views on the government’s claim about Rewa Solar Power Project being Asia’s largest.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted “Asatyagrahi” in response to PMO India’s tweet.

Currently, the Bhadla Solar Park (2245 MW) in Jodhpur, Rajasthan is the world’s largest solar power park followed by the Pavagada Solar Park (2050 MW) located in Tumkur District of Karnataka. Bhadla Solar Park was commissioned with an initial capacity of 115 MW in February 2017. By September 2018, 1365 MW had been commissioned. The Pavagada Solar Park had connected a 100MW solar plant at Pavagada to the grid in December 2017. It had a total commissioned capacity of 1,400 MW by 9 April 2019 and reached 1850 MW by November 2019.

The Rewa Solar Park has a nameplate capacity of 750 MW ranking 5th in the line after Bhadla, Pavagada, Kurnool and NP Kunta Solar Power Parks.

However, it is the first solar project in the country to break the grid parity barrier.

The inauguration of the solar power plant in Madhya Pradesh is said to be a step forward to a green and clean energy efficient nation.

The BJP government has not given a clear response to the claim it has made about Rewa being the Asia’s largest Solar Power Plant.

 

TN CM Edappadi K Palaniswami honoured as Paul Harris Fellow

By
The Commune
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The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International has honoured Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami by recognizing him as a Paul Harris Fellow, Information Minister Kadambur Raju said in a press release.

The Rotary Foundation of Rotary International is a non-profit corporation headquartered in Chicago, USA, and supports efforts of Rotary International’s mission of achieving world understanding and peace.

The Chief Minister has been recognized as a Paul Harris Fellow for this year for efforts undertaken in the areas of water, sanitation, disease control, maternity care, environment, etc.

Paul Harris Fellow recognition is given to a person who contributes (or in whose name is contributed, using Foundation recognition points) a gift of $1000 or more cumulatively to the Annual Fund, Polio Plus Fund, or an approved global grant. Recognition consists of a certificate and pin.

Central Government to set up the first Bamboo Industrial Park in Dima Hasao

By
Preetika Parashuraman
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The Central Government has announced to set up a Bamboo Industrial Park at Dima Hasao District.

This will be the first Bamboo Industrial Park in north-east India.

The development of bamboo-based industries is expected to tap into the potential of the bamboo sector in Guwahati.

The construction of the park will be undertaken by the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region.

The Bamboo Industrial Park will cover an area of 75 hectares, thereby contribute to the upliftment of the state’s economic condition.

Besides, work is in progress for the establishment of an ethanol production unit at Numaligarh Refinery.

The Prime Minister’s Office has initiated this for an amount of ₹1500 crore.

The establishment of both the bamboo-based unit and park will not only help in the development of bamboo growers of the state, also it will influence the young population to contribute towards the bamboo sector.

Perpetuating Inequality: Dravidian Social Justice Is Social Justice For The Already Wealthy and Powerful, Not For The Oppressed And Downtrodden

By
Shricharan
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A recent proposal from the centre to modify the provisions for the determination of creamy layer in the OBC category has created stir in the fantasy land of “Periyar”, Tamil Nadu. This move from Delhi has attracted unequivocal condemnation from various regional party leaders in the state including the Chief Minister Edappaadi Palaniswamy and the Leader of Opposition M.K.Stalin.

What does the new proposal really entail?

An expert commission set up by the Central Government under the chairmanship of Justice B.P.Sharma to “examine the issues related to Creamy layer equivalence among the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBCs)” submitted a report to the Union Cabinet to revise the OBC Creamy layer criterions to rationalise and simplify the calculation process.

Following the report, the Centre has announced that it is looking to increase the ceiling for Non-Creamy layer from 8 lakhs to 12 lakhs per annum earnings in the OBC category. Additionally, as per the proposal, salary and agricultural income will now be counted under yearly earnings for those seeking OBC reservation. The incorporation of salary and agricultural earnings into annual income has gathered criticism from many corners in Tamil Nadu cutting across party lines. But the strongest voice against the recent proposed changes are not surprisingly, from the DMK.

The primary criticism from the DMK camp against the proposal is that it is an attempt to dilute the Mandal gains and desecrate Social Justice to the 40% strong population of India, the OBCs.

This seems to be a humorous analysis of the proposed changes because the very rationale behind triggering these changes is to ensure that the beneficiaries of the OBC reservations hail from the educationally and socially lowermost ranks of the society rather than the same groups becoming the repeated beneficiaries over multiple generations.

But if one was to give a thought on why there is a resistance to this from the Dravidian camp, one shall necessarily have to look at the genesis of the Dravidian Movement.

The Dravidian Movement which is portrayed as a subaltern movement against the Aryan Brahmins wasn’t really as it is portrayed. In reality, virtually all members of the Justice Party were the wealthy landowners and Zamindars of the Madras Presidency. It started off as a struggle against the Brahmins(who populated the bureaucracy) by the “intermediary” castes(who were landowners). The tradition does not seem to be lost today.

The Dravidian Parties still seem to care only about the elites of the OBCs and are ready to brush off the majority impoverished OBC population for its own gains. The Dravidian Movement took away the power structure from the Brahmins and distributed it to three chosen caste groups who happen to constitute 30-34% of the population, essentially a big chunk. Even today, important ministerial births and party positions in both Dravidian parties are occupied by the 3 said groups. Therefore, the reservation policies of Tamil Nadu are essentially mandated by the 3 chosen groups, leaving behind a majority portion of Tamil Nadu deprived of power and most importantly, land and wealth.

The new OBC creamy layer categorisation shall undoubtedly help uplift the poorer caste groups among the OBCs but unfortunately, this itches the Dravidian psyche because of its inherent bias towards a select few caste groups.

OBC reservation has failed to reach those in need 

Another criticism the Dravidian cabal places here is that there is no statistical evidence to support that OBC reservations have failed to reach the economically poorer sections of the OBC society.

This is yet another fundamentally flawed criticism from the self-proclaimed descendants of “Periyar”.

Justice Rohini Commission was set up in October, 2017 to recommend sub-categorization of sub categorization of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and ensure that marginalized sub castes get due benefits.

The Commission published a shocking report last year which clearly exposes the uneven distribution of the fruits of reservation in the OBC category.

The Commission report reveals as follows:

1) 2,633 castes compete for the 27% OBC reservation quota.

2) 25% of OBC reservation has been availed by a mere 10 sub-castes which is testament to why there has to be a review of the categorisation under this category.

3) Over 983 castes under the OBC category have been able to avail no reservation whatsoever.

Therefore the Justice Rohini Commission has spilled the beans on the lies of those claiming that there is no evidence available to support the new proposal of the Centre.

The report clearly reveals a pattern that involves the beneficiaries of reservation being a tiny minority of the OBC, thus leaving behind a large chunk without any piece of the pie.

Observations made by judges on the question of economic criteria 

Another misinformed notion the sons of “Periyar” seem to be carrying is that there can be no consideration of economic criteria whatsoever when it comes to matters of reservation.

The origin of this idea that economic conditions should be shunned while determining reservation has no real, conclusive legal backing except for an observation made by Justice (retd) Rathnavel Pandian in the famous Indra Sawhaney Case of 1992.

While Justice Rathnavel Pandian was of the view that reservation should be based purely on social and educational standards(and not economic), certain other judges in the very same case seem to disagree.

Justice R.M. Sahai in the same case held that the equation of the word “class” as enlisted in Art.16(4) to “caste” would be in violation of Art.16(2) which prohibits discrimination on the basis of “religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them” and anti-discrimnation as enlisted under Art.15.

Justice Kuldip Singh who was also part of the same case concurred with the Obiter dicta of Justice R.M. Sahai in favour of the conclusion that economic criterion may also be an important aspect in determining deserving groups or classes for reservation on the grounds that Art 16(4) would necessarily have to be read in a manner consistent with Art 15(1).

Therefore, while it can be contested that reservation cannot be employed as a means of poverty alleviation which involves economic criterion, it can be a mere observation, that which is not grounded in law or an established statute.

While we have managed to debunk the skewed notions of social justice of the DMK, some important questions ought to be asked of them.

Some questions for the DMK

Considering the DMK Supremo M.K.Stalin has decided to resist against the inclusion of salary and agricultural income in the yearly earnings for OBC creamy layer of classification, will he be comfortable if the Modi Government decides to continue the old method of classifying Creamy layer for OBCs by excluding salary and agricultural income if the same is followed suit for the ceiling on EWS reservation?

Why is it that DMK, a strong proponent of social justice, field a senior and experienced candidate like A Raja in a reserved constituency (Nilgiris) even till date? Is it simply because that he happens to belong to the Dalit fold? Additionally, will the DMK in subsequent elections consider offering non-reserved constituencies to its alliance partner VCK?

In conclusion, the Dravidian politics which defies the new rules for OBC classification, is a reflection of how either parties since time immemorial tend to favour only the rich, elite, and the politically muscular groups of the Backward Classes while comfortably eschewing the poorer, politically outcast caste groups under the same category. Both the parties work hand in hand in ensuring that the fruits of reservation do not reach the economically deprived castes and sub-castes and instead get retained in the hands of the more powerful and populous castes.

The vote bank politics in Tamil Nadu sadly wishes to keep those living in darkness still in the dark while ensuring the dissemination of social justice for the already wealthy and powerful alone.

Owner of ashram arrested for sexual harassment

By
Preetika Parashuraman
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The owner of an ashram in Shukertal allegedly sexually harassed four children and forced them to work as laborers.

Swami Bhakti Bhushan Govind Maharaj was arrested when he was trying to escape from his ashram. 

A case has been registered against him under IPC sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 377 (unnatural offenses), 504 ( intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), and sections 5/6 of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences Act, said Additional District Magistrate Amit Kumar.

He has denied all the charges against him claiming that he was falsely implicated in this case.

A team from the childcare helpline and the police rescued 8 children followed by another two on 7 July, 2020.

The children were from Tripura, Mizoram, and Assam and aged between 7 to 10 years.

A medical examination confirmed that four of the children were sexually harassed.

When the district authorities informed the parents of the victims about the alleged sexual harassment by the ashram’s owner, they claimed that he even forced them to lay bricks as part of manual labor.

Source: PTI

Gujarat’s Morbi looks to conquer China’s toy market the ‘Atmanirbhar’ way

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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In response to Prime Minister Modi’s call for an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’, over 150 firms in Morbi, Gujarat, have come together to create local products that have been imported from China so far. This province is a hub for ceramic tiles and the famous Ajanta clocks, and is now aspiring to conquer China’s toy market. The electronic and clock manufacturers in the town are in talks with firms that source parts or finished products from China for the Indian market.

The manufacturers also believe that more than 25000 skilled laborers will be given employment because of this and that with the necessary infrastructure, they would be equipped enough to replace the Chinese market.

The MD of the world’s largest wall-clock maker- Ajanta-Oreva Group, Jaysukh Patel, said that due to the decrease in demands since the Covid-19 outbreak, Morbi has been operating at barely 20% capacity. He added that they will be engaging with toy and gift articles makers and also consumer durable firms such as Hitachi, Samsung, and LG for new business. He also affirmed that the replacements will be cost-efficient, and of better quality.

Morbi is a primary industrial hub in Gujarat and over 80% of India’s vitrified ceramic tiles come from this place. China is the biggest exporter of ceramic products in Asia to Europe, the United States, and other Western countries. Now that other world countries are at loggerheads with China, it is believed that they will now look to Indian tile manufacturers for their imports.

This weird shipping address on a parcel caused a laughing riot on the internet today

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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The shipping address of a parcel shipped by the mailing company ‘Shoptimize’ had the internet in splits. It denoted an address in Rajasthan, but said, “Mandir ke samne aate hi phone laaga lena mein aa jaunga” (translates to call me after you reach the temple I will be there). This was posted by the company’s CEO Mangesh Panditrao, and left netizens crying with laughter, and immediately became viral. In a subsequent tweet, CEO Panditrao explained that it was “just another day in the life of logistics”.

E-commerce companies usually request for the landmarks from the customers to be able to make the delivery hassle-free. This person, in particular, was trying to make the delivery person’s life even easier, by requesting them to call him once they reached the landmark, so he could pick it up by himself.

https://twitter.com/irohan_gupta/status/1280830826809380864

This immediately sparked comments like “what’s the point of address when the shipping will be cancelled” and “just find the landlord and hand it over” were spotted on parcels in India. A lot of the Twitterati also stated other similar incidents, primarily in case of parcels delivered by the Indian Postal Service.

Spotify has stopped working for many users across the world

By
Preetika Parashuraman
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Spotify users complain that the music streaming app kept crashing.

There seems to be a problem in Facebook’s software developer kit for iOS which is usually responsible for letting people login to other apps using their Facebook accounts.

The apps are crashing because when they launch they are trying to reach Facebook’s servers to authenticate any logins, even if the user isn’t logging in with their Facebook account.

The company says that uninstalling and installing it back would not work.

Some have tried to launch the app in airplane mode with WiFi off. However, the app crashes again when it is turned off.

The underlying services of these apps are still working. Users can play Spotify music by visiting its website using a web browser rather than the app.

Users say that it works fine in Android versions of the app.

The surge in complaints centered in western Europe.

The complaints started increasing the same day Juice World’s new posthumous album got released. Many users say that due to overwhelming interest, the app might have crashed. However, there is no confirmation on this.

Along with Spotify, other apps such as Tinder and Pinterest are crashing for users across the globe.

Retired US Marine garners praise after ‘catching’ a falling child from a burning building

By
Vaibavi Jayakumar
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Philip Blanks, a retired US marine won hearts all over the world after he rescued a falling child from a burning building. An apartment in Phoenix, Arizona, had gotten caught on fire, and the kid had jumped from the balcony of the blazing building. Blanks, who had been in the complex to visit a friend for an early-morning workout, when he had heard screaming.

Without hesitation, this former high school football player dove to catch the child who had dropped from the third floor, who, he said, was “twirling like a helicopter” as he fell.

“People were screaming ‘there are kids up there’ and to throw the kids down,” Blanks said. “I saw another guy was standing there ready to catch the boy, but he didn’t look like he was going to do it, so I stepped in front of him. The way I caught him, I fell on my side, and of course damaged his foot, but the most important thing is that his head was safe.”

This was caught on tape by a bystander, and became viral on social media, garnering praise for Blanks. The kid, Jameson, 3, was apparently thrown from the balcony by his mother in an attempt to save him from the fire. His sister Roxxie was saved by the rescue force, but sadly, their mother didn’t make it out of the fire.

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TheCommune
The Commune is a news and views portal focusing on social and political issues of the southern part of India with a focus on Tamil Nadu.
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