UDF meet on Monday; Decision on Speaker must, parliamentary affairs, deputy speaker can wait

Thiruvananthapuram: UDF meeting on Monday could be an interesting one considering the manner in which the inscrutable issue of deciding on the fifth minister for IUML, selection of proper candidate for the post of Speaker and the like.

Congress leaders being pastmasters in trouble-shooting, it should be seen how it would placate the Indian Union Muslim League. The ideas-rich Congress was checkmated by the Muslim League last week by prodding its spiritual leader Panakad Hyderali Shihab Thangal, a relative of the descendants of Prophet Mohamed himself, to announce a fifth minister for the party. How can anyone disregard a wish made by Thangal?

But the Congress cannot part with the fifth position right away, for it has to reserve some positions for the would-be incomers in the UDF. Afterall, politics is the art of all possibilities, and all options have to be kept open, even as there exists the usual grand-standing by all and sundry in the UDF to the effect that everything is spick and span with the coalition and its government enjoying wafer-thin majority in the Assembly.

If the IUML with 20 MLAs insist on five ministers , how can the Kerala Congress(M) refrain from asking a third ministers? Then, if at all it gets a third minister, the post should go to P.C.George whose moves are not predictable, at least for some time. For, in Kerala Congress (M) party, there are three entities owing personal allegiance to K.M.Mani, P.J.Joseph and P.C.George.

Will Oommen Chandy and K.M.Mani bargain for a ministerial slot for P.C.George? At best they would offer the post of deputy speaker to P.C.George, who is not comfortable with accepting the low-profile position.

On Monday, the UDF may sort out the post of Speaker as there is no time left for the selection. Parliamentary Affairs minister and deputy speaker can wait. Or if someone is amenable to accepting a chief whip post with cabinet rank, that can also be decided.

All the same, Monday is a crucial day for the UDF.

You have deregulated petrol price, but you have not delinked the taxes on it

Petrol price in Delhi is Rs 63.37 per litre and Rs 68.33 in Mumbai, with prevalence of varied prices in various states, in accordance with differences in levy of transportation charges, additional sales tax etc.

When the petrol price per litre in Chennai was Rs 51.90, the break-up of cost was calculated by the government as follows:
• Basic Price = Rs 21.93
• Excise duty = Rs 14.35
• Education Tax = Rs 0.43
• Dealer commission = Rs 1.05
• VAT = Rs 5.5
• Crude Oil Custom duty = Rs 1.1
• Petrol Custom = Rs 1.54
• Transportation Charge = Rs 6.00
• Total price = Rs 51.90

In other states there are levies like additional sales tax which was given up by Kerala Government in respect of the latest hike of Rs five per litre.
In a nutshell, one can surmise that the price the people pay is more than double the basic price of the fuel.

The government has simply washed its hands off by saying that the petroleum companies are deciding the price rate in accordance with the fluctuations in price in the international market.

But the basic fact is, when you deregulate the economy, the market and the price phenomenon, you cannot mix administered price system with the deregulated thing. At least you don’t say that you have deregulated it.

You are simply shirking responsibility with regard to economic management by cornering whatever you can from the people. You should be either cold-blooded or warm-blooded.

Therefore, it is high time the government bestowed its attention on reforming the arrogant form of levy of various taxes on petrol or other fuels simply stating that you have deregulated the system.

This is another paradox in India whose rulers, whoever they are, are waxing eloquent on free market economy on the one hand and at the same time refusing to bring in comprehensive welfare measures like the same obtaining in capitalistic countries.

Oommen Chandy may seek help of high command to rope in Chennithala as Minister

New Delhi: Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy’s task in Delhi on Thursday and Friday may be to compel KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala to accept a ministerial berth in the newly-formed Cabinet in the state.

Ramesh Chennithala has made it a point that he is not interested in taking up the post of a minister.

He likes to continue to function as the KPCC president and he has affirmed that even if the high command asks him to join the Cabinet, he would politely decline the offer.

It seems Chennithala is not prepared to accept anything less than Chief Ministership, failing which he would like to be KPCC president. Definitely, he is young and he has a long time to go, at the end of which he may land himself up as Chief Minister.
Oommen Chandy has to get the list of Congress ministers in his Cabinet approved by the high command and make changes in accordance with the wishes of Sonia Gandhi.
No doubt, he would consult A.K.Antony and others in this matter.

Perhaps he would urge the high command to act in such a way that IUML and Kerala Congress(M) can be appeased by offering some central berths.

There can be transparent rule in accordance with truth, justice and fairplay

The sum total of a regime should be transparency in governance, based on quintessential principles of truth, justice and fairplay. If he wants, Oommen Chandy can follow the precepts giving weight to the cardinal principles and deliver good to the people.

If he would be swayed by considerations of survival on a thin margin, he would not be able to perform well. Come what may, the new Cabinet should perform. Required environment would naturally follow. Even if there is propensity for trouble, one can disregard such threats. For, the result of governance even for a short while would be remembered for long.

Whatever machinations prevailing to the contrary, the new dispensation should strive to function effectively for the common good of all people.

No community can have tall claims about making the present dispensation victorious. At the same time, legitimate claims of all can be conceded. Which means, even the slender majority would not be a problem for Oommen Chandy if he cares to be firm about pulling on in accordance with cardinal principles.

Number game is what is democracy; Gentleman Governor you can’t act in haste

Democracy is all about the game of numbers, especially in the first-past-post system of election. Whoever wins one vote more than the rival will get elected. The system of proportional representationby single transferable vote has been thought of years ago, but could not be introduced in Indian legislatures.

Perhaps our MPs and MLAs may be behaving rather oddly and sometimes transcending realms of common sense, but there is no means other than sticking on with the number game. The same person or persons may support a leader some time and the same person or persons may turn against him and after a little while the same person or persons may embrace the same leader.

That is what is being seen in Karnataka where BJP Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has been the on-again, off-again and repeatedly on-again leader for about 16 MLAs, five of whom are independents. They did not support Yeddyurappa for some time, when the Speaker disqualified them, and now after quite some time during which Yeddyurappa had a good run of his sort of governance, the Supreme Court has nullified the disqualification.

By this time, Yeddyurappa has got back the allegiance of a majority of these people who had denounced him earlier. Morality of the whole issue apart, this is the form of number game that is ruling the roost in Indian democracy.

But Governor H.R.Bharadwaj has a different dimension of dealing with the people concerned. He thinks he can dismiss the government. But gentleman, you can only call a session of the Assembly and ask Yeddyurappa to prove his majority. There may be arguments pro and con, but the Gentleman Governor has no choice.

It seems the Union Government has seen the reality in its true perspective and may not act on the report of the Governor.

Definitely merger has done Mani major harm

Immediately after the results of Assembly elections were announced, Kerala Congress (M) leader K.M.Mani poignantly observed that the merger of Kerala Congress Joseph into his party has done him great harm to his group.

Those who immersed into his group has benefited immensely, while some of Mani’s men were down in the dumps. The worst case was that of Joseph M Puthusserry belonging to the Orthodox Church. He was the only sitting MLA of the UDF who was denied a seat in the Assembly election. The Church has definitely retaliated against it.

Mani had thought the Congress Party would give him as many seats to accommodate all his interests, but the Congress Party could not oblige everything. Puthusserry’s loss has caused a lot of losses in many other seats as well.

Now Mani is trying hard to get ministerial berths for his followers, but the Congress Party may not be giving as many positions as Mani is demanding. In the end, Mani and P.J.Joseph would end up as ministers and P.C.George or so may become the deputy speaker.

Surely, Mani had said the merger was a long-term safety deposit which may help him out in the future.

Hard tasks ahead for the UDF Government-to-be

Kottayam: The Finance Minister of the coming UDF Government in Kerala has a formidable task to keep the treasury running all the days of the year, for the simple reason that CPM’s Finance Minister Dr Thomas Isaac was capable enough to see that the treasury was not closed for a single day during his five-year tenure.

During that time the UDF leaders used to say that the Government of India was flush with funds and these were flowing to the state profusely. Now the Congress-led UDF Government cannot blame anyone else if it won’t be able to finance the day-to-day running as well as implementing various projects. The government has to find funds one way or the other.

Likewise, regarding the Electricity portfolio, power cut and load shedding were not that rampant.Power Minister A.K.Balan had somehow managed to serve the people’s need of electricity.

Education sector is a ticklish domain which would provide a lot of problems which are sensitive.

Civil Supplies could be a difficult terrain, for the UDF government has to supply rice at one rupee per kilogramme.

Would the government have enough time to deal with the people’s problems when it would engross itself to keep the political flock together?

The people are not prepared to tolerate corruption

Now-a-days the people the world over are not prepared to stand corruption and corrupt leaders, a la the developments in the Arab, Gulf and African nations.

In India also, there are strong movements against corruption. The alliance of the Congress, out of political expediency of propping up the Manmohan Singh government at the Centre, with the scam-ridden DMK of Karunanidhi, had caused intolerance in the minds of the people. Every day there was report about one corruption or the other, 2G, Commonwealth Games, Adarsh Housing and the like.

V.S.Achuthanandan in his inimitable style was able to make a hype out of all these issues. Veteran he is, for without actually delivering on the anti-corruption front, maybe because of opposition from within, he could corner the Congress-led UDF. No cogent action has come in the matter of lottery scam, no action was taken against the perpetrators of Endosulfan spraying, even as there was a ban order in the state since 2005.

He could highlight corruption issues and take these to the courtyard of the rivals.
The results show that people would have revulsion for the patently corrupt. Whoever rules from now on, has to be careful.

Over to selecting CM, forming Cabinet for UDF; VS factor to continue in LDF

Thiruvananthapuram: Now it would be the great exercise of naming the Chief Minister and forming the Cabinet members, in the backdrop of the slender victory margin secured by the Congress-led United Democratic Front in Kerala.

From the situation that was prevailing in the state, it could be a miracle how the front got 72 seats out of 140, for the ruling regime of the CPM-led V.S.Achuthanandan was almost placed to return to power.

Reports of the UDF posited to undergo an agonising process of Chief Minister-making may not be true. For every constituent might have the feeling that it has to survive, for which it will have to toil hard and has to be very careful.

Even the tiny parties in the UDF will have to be given representation in the Cabinet. T.M.Jacob is lucky this time. He cannot be ignored. The victory of 157 votes is no small thing.

Congress Party will have to slice out Ministership to all and has to be content with whatever is left. Still they will have a Chief Minister.

Talks about some parties going over to the LDF may not hold good at present. For some time, it appears the UDF would move about positively. Indian Union Muslim League has set the tone in fine fettle, it would not demand the post of a Deputy Chief Minister. That is the spirit.

For the LDF, Achuthanandan was the trump card, and it would remain so in the near future.