UPA completes 9 years in office

Sonia Gandhi moved to quell talk about a growing distance between the Congress and the prime minister and ruled out early general elections, seeking to draw a firm line under the two of the biggest uncertainties spooking the UPA.

Addressing a meeting to commemorate the ninth anniversary of the UPA, Gandhi said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been “carrying out his responsibilities with great dignity despite hostilities” and that her party “respects him and stands by him”. “There are calculated efforts, innuendos, misinformation and untruths being spread,” she told the Congress leaders assembled on the lawns of the prime minister’s official residence. Speaking to reporters after the function, her son and leader in waiting, Rahul Gandhi, too, rejected suggestions that two-leader system has become dysfunctional.

Here's what Prime Minister said about the various things:-

Amidst allegations of corruption in the allocation of telecom spectrum and coal mines, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh promised to punish wrongdoers and said future allotment of scarce natural resources would be only through auction. The UPA II government has faced a plethora of corruption charges in the allocation of 2G spectrum when A. Raja was Telecom Minister and in the allocation of coal blocks when Dr. Singh himself held the charge of the Coal Ministry.

Dr. Singh said in his address on the occasion of the UPA II government completing 4 years in office that, allegations of impropriety are being investigated and wrongdoers will be punished. He said much had been made out of problems that arose with the way scarce resources such as spectrum and mining blocks were allocated in the past and there had been allegations of deliberate malfeasance.

He added that, UPA have introduced more transparent systems for the future, i.e., auctions, rather than relying on administrative allocations. The problems with past allocations are being dealt with, as they should be, under the law. But we can claim credit that the root causes of the problem, which was the perceived non-transparency in the manner of allocation, has been addressed and these problems will not arise in the future.

Stating that improving the quality of governance was a major challenge, Dr. Singh said, both the Centre and the States have to act to deal with this problem. The UPA government has done more in this area than any other government.

On Cabinet Expansion:- Amid reports of a Cabinet expansion with the exit of Union Ministers P.K. Bansal and Ashwani Kumar, the Prime Minister said there were vacancies in his team but was non-committal about whether he would induct new members.

On Economy:- Indicating that the worst might be over for the Indian economy, the Prime Minister said the economic situation was turning around with inflation coming under control and the GDP growth likely to exceed 6% this fiscal. Dr. Singh said 8% growth rate was possible if the Congress-led coalition was voted to power again next year.

He also said that, the government is confident that growth in 2013-14 will be better than that in 2012-13 and could exceed 6%. Attributing the decline in economic growth to global phenomenon, he said the “slowdown is temporary.” A 6% growth this year would set the stage for returning to 8% growth in the current Five Year-Plan period ending March 31, 2017. Dr. Singh said that, this will be difficult, but it is not impossible.

On Agriculture:- Stating that agricultural growth was critical for rural prosperity, the Prime Minister said the government was targeting 4% growth in the sector and was attempting to increase food grains production as well as diversifying agriculture. He said that, this is the foundation which allowed the government to introduce Food Security legislation in Parliament. The government had also introduced the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Bill to replace the old and highly unfair colonial legislation. The new Act would be much fairer to those whose land was acquired.

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National Food Security Bill

The National Food Security Bill, UPA government's ambitious social welfare programme, is awaiting its passage in Parliament. It was tabled in the Lok Sabha amid uproar created by the Opposition over allegations of corruption in the UPA government.

Here are the 10 things that need to know about the Food Security Bill:

v     The National Food Security Bill is the brainchild of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

v     The bill was originally introduced in Parliament in December 2011. The government had tried to take up the bill in Parliament last week also but could not as Opposition members disrupted the House, demanding Prime Minister's resignation over the coal blocks issue.

v     A centrepiece of the ruling government's campaign in 2009, the bill was cleared by a parliamentary committee in January this year.

v     The proposed bill aims to provide legal right over subsidised foodgrain to 67 per cent of the population.

v     The bill proposes to do away with priority and general classifications of beneficiaries and provide uniform allocation of 5 kg foodgrain (per person) at fixed rate of Rs. 3 (rice), Rs. 2 (wheat) and Rs. 1 (coarse grains) per kg to 75 per cent of the rural population and 50 per cent of the poor in urban India - about 800 million people.

v     Protection to 2.43 crore poorest of poor families under the Antodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) to supply of 35 kg foodgrains per month per family would continue.

v     Nutritional support to pregnant women without limitation are among other changes proposed in the bill.

v     It will be linked to the Aadhar scheme which provides every citizen with a unique identification number that's linked to a database that includes the biometrics of all card-holders.

v     At the proposed coverage of entitlement, total estimated annual foodgrains requirement is 61.23 million tonnes and is likely to cost the exchequer Rs. 1,24,724 crore.

v     The government would like to be able to seek re-election in 2014 by highlighting that it has delivered on a major promise made by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and other leaders of her party during their campaign in the last general election.

DMK quits UPA-II? Who said what

The DMK has pulled out of the Congress-led UPA government. The party said its decision is based on the Centre's refusal to take a strong stand again.

BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy

“All parties, which are with the UPA, are not willing to move forward with it.”

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath

“No matter what the DMK decides, there is no threat to the UPA government. Let the BJP say what they what.”

CPI(M) leader Prakash Karat

"Need to throw this Congress-led UPA out of office. But what is the alternative? The BJP? The economic policies of the BJP and the Congress are no different."

DMK MP A Raja

"The survival of the UPA will be effected. This is making the UPA unstable."

JD(U) leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar

"The Congress party will sort out the issue. They will look into the demands of the Tamils. But if there's an early election, we're ready."

DMK MP Kanimozhi

“DMK had no choice. We expected the government to support this resolution and take it forward but unfortunately it did not happen.”

Finance Minister P Chidambaram

"The government is absolutely stable and enjoys a majority in the Lok Sabha."

BJP spokesperson Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi

"This government is on ventilator support.”

Congress President Sonia Gandhi

“I have nothing to say.”

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK Chief J. Jayalalithaa

“It as a “drama” and indicated it was an action which came too late in the day”

DMK quits from UPA-II

No ‘Karuna’ for UPA? Congress ship may sink sans DMK mast

It isn’t without a reason that Muthuvel Karunanidhi is called an ace scriptwriter. On show is the latest DMK-Congress co-production, with lead actor Karunanidhi threatening to walk out of the UPA government over the Lanka issue. A couple of thundering letters written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi showcase Karunanidhi at his melodramatic best, complaining about how he feels “let down” by the “lukewarm” response of the government.

 Cut to next scene in Delhi where Manmohan Singh decides to do a 2013 version of Manmohan Desai, by sending an ‘Amar Akbar Anthony’ like triumvirate of P Chidambaram, Ghulam Nabi Azad and A K Antony to mollify Karunanidhi. The climax scene, I guess, will be in Geneva on 22 March , where India will most likely vote against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC).

Now anyone who follows Tamil Nadu and Karunanidhi’s politics will know the DMK chief is just indulging in posturing. Quitting the UPA will rob the party of its clout in Delhi and for a party whose leaders and cadre are already facing trouble in the AIADMK regime, not having men who matter in Delhi on speed dial would hurt. But at the same time, if he decides to go half the distance and just quit the cabinet, the bets are that he would choose the Lankan issue to pull his ministers out.

But by raising the pitch on the emotive Lankan issue, Karunanidhi’s political protest is in sync with what is happening on the streets of Tamil Nadu. Hunger strikes and street protests by a few colleges in Chennai have metamorphosed into a frenzy that is sucking in more students from different cities of the state. This is a new development because hitherto pro-Lankan Tamil protests have been the preserve of Tamil Nadu politicians and the likes of Vaiko have virtually built their political career over such agitations.

Which is why Karunanidhi wants to be up in the batting order in the test against Sri Lanka. The Lankan Tamil issue is just right for the 88-year-old to improve his credibility quotient, one year ahead of elections. The wily politician has been waiting for a big issue to piggyback on and this one fits the glove perfectly.

The letters and the airdash by three senior ministers seem more an orchestrated plot to make Karunanidhi the hero of India’s pro-Sri Lankan Tamil campaign. The AIADMK has ridiculed it calling it a “deal between UPA Delhi and UPA Chennai”. Karunanidhi knows very well that he cannot afford to yield even an inch on the issue because Jayalalithaa will go all out to occupy it. Already the Tamil Nadu chief minister has asked the PM to take “historic and courageous” steps to move amendments to the US-backed resolution at Geneva. Jaya has even pressed for slapping economic sanctions on Sri Lanka till Tamils were fully settled. Which is why Karunanidhi wants terms like ‘genocide’ and ‘Eelam’ added to the resolution.

 In the past, the Lankan issue has never played a significant part in the elections, where local issues held sway. But this time, political consensus is that Tamilians in Tamil Nadu are feeling more strongly for their brethren across the Gulf of Mannar. The photographs showing Prabhakaran’s son minutes before he was killed in cold blood have unleashed a sense of outrage against Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the Lankan army. There is intense competition among the political tribe now to emerge as the voice of this anger and anguish.

The Congress knows there is no way its alliance with the DMK will fetch it the kind of dividends it did in 2009, when the two won 26 of the 39 Lok Sabha seats (18 seats DMK and 8 seats Congress). But then wooing Jayalalithaa is not an option given the unpredictability quotient that defines her.

Which is why when Sonia goes around political shopping in Tamil Nadu, she sees only TINA. She is aware that Karunanidhi comes with the baggage of a huge family tree and the overambitious and allegedly corrupt nature of its branches led to the electorate cutting them to size in the 2011 assembly polls. Things haven’t looked up since and Karunanidhi needs to do all it takes to put up a good performance in 2014. The DMK-Congress tie-up is not a win-win combo, but fighting separately is not an option either. A joint electoral account, both parties hope, will get more punches on the EVM than going it alone.

The Lankan issue is Karunanidhi’s gambit to get back into political form. 2014 will reveal if the master storyteller got this Act and Scene right.