What is the CPM leadership doing? Are they going to sit and watch as the VS Achutanandan government is steadily frittering away the goodwill of the people through its inability to rule the state? With the issue of the 123 nuclear agreement with the United States coming to a head, it is understandable for the party's leadership to wish not to have two crises in hand at once.
The problem is this attitude is not going to solve the problem. If the party needs the same number of MPs in the next Parliament in case of a mid-term poll, it needs to act quickly. At the current rate the party will end up with a tally of a handful of MPs if elections are held now.
The unrepaired roads, the health machinery that has ground to a halt, the unending scandals involving the ministers, the problems the CPI is creating for the ministry with its hard headedness, and above all, the effete chief minister himself - all these are going to finish off the government in the state.
The only two ministers who are really governing in all this mess are the Home and Industries ministers, and unfortunately, the gains they have made are being sought to be nullified by Achumama's supporters in the party and media. Because they happen to be Pinarayi faction members.
But fact is fact, and Achu has proved to be the most hopeless chief minister a state can have. And if the CPM leadership wishes for the party's and people's well being they should immediately elevate Kodiyeri Balakrishnan to the chief minister's post and send Achu into a forced sabbatical from politics.
That is the least they can do now, at this late hour, if they feel they have any responsibility to the people of the state who brought them to power!
Showing posts with label CPM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CPM. Show all posts
Monday, October 1, 2007
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Mayawati Doest It, The Left Still Balks!
Wow, I can't believe this. But here is another regional party showing what it can do on exactly the same issue that the Left has held protests over for months. Yes, I am talking of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati asking big retailers, read Ambanis et al, to shut shop and go home. And here in Kerala and in New Delhi the Left has been holding protests and disrupting public life when it could have just done what Mayawati has done!
It is like how Karunanidhi showed the Left how to make the Center tow his line without putting to trouble all the people who voted for him.
I am not die-hard Leftist. But from what I have seen the Congress and the BJP do in the name of administering a state or a country, I earnestly hope that the Left remains in power in Kerala. I know many people who voted for the Left last elections aren't Leftists either, but simply those who chose them as they were fed up by the Congress or the BJP.
However, it seems the only people who don't want this goodwill to continue are the Left leaders. Why block traffic and call for shop shut-downs in Kerala when you can just ask Ambani to pack up and go home? Why let one of your leaders inaugurate Reliance Fresh's shops and then hold protests against the company? Search me!
But that is how the Left has always been. When people bring them back to power they will do everything possible to lose that power. And then they will go for another round of violent protests as the Opposition. The only losers, in both cases, are the people of the state.
Dear Karat, please learn from what Karunanidhi and Mayawati have done. If you thought that what they did was impossible, at least now don't stick to that line. It is possible and has been done.
If you want to protest against something do what you can about it first before putting people's livelihoods at stake.
It is like how Karunanidhi showed the Left how to make the Center tow his line without putting to trouble all the people who voted for him.
I am not die-hard Leftist. But from what I have seen the Congress and the BJP do in the name of administering a state or a country, I earnestly hope that the Left remains in power in Kerala. I know many people who voted for the Left last elections aren't Leftists either, but simply those who chose them as they were fed up by the Congress or the BJP.
However, it seems the only people who don't want this goodwill to continue are the Left leaders. Why block traffic and call for shop shut-downs in Kerala when you can just ask Ambani to pack up and go home? Why let one of your leaders inaugurate Reliance Fresh's shops and then hold protests against the company? Search me!
But that is how the Left has always been. When people bring them back to power they will do everything possible to lose that power. And then they will go for another round of violent protests as the Opposition. The only losers, in both cases, are the people of the state.
Dear Karat, please learn from what Karunanidhi and Mayawati have done. If you thought that what they did was impossible, at least now don't stick to that line. It is possible and has been done.
If you want to protest against something do what you can about it first before putting people's livelihoods at stake.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Callous Officials Spoil Onam, But Kodiyeri Stars
The Onam fever is gripping Kerala, but rather than help the people enjoy this festival the government and the bureaucrats are trying to spoil it for them. The wave of fever infections sweeping the state is showing no sign of abating, and the health minister is still not in sight!
And the roads are still looking like canals. The roads minister went on a tour of the roads and elicited promises from officials that those potholes will be filled in "2 days." But let us wait and watch! If they couldn't repair it all these days, I doubt if they can do it in 2 days.
The only silver lining is the home minister's order to the police to stop harassing the public over not wearing helmets and seat belts. This home minister has time and again come out with orders that have helped the people - a welcome departure from the UDF days when the politicians in power let the police make as much money as possible from the public. Keep up the good work, Kodiyeri!
Lest I be painted a Pinarayi supporter for praising the home minister, let me say that the state health minister is a total failure. It is not enough to keep telling the people no one has died from chikunguniya in the state. At least show your face to the public. Mr Pinarayi, please take this woman out of this government. She is destroying the entire good image of the LDF. I pity this woman's ineptitude - even after an MP is down with fever she has done precious nothing about the health care machinery.
One heartening thing that happened yesterday was the tribal people marching to MP Veerendrakumar's son Shreyamskumar's (not sure if I have spelled it right) illegal land. The police shooed them away but I have a feeling Veeran cannot brush this issue under the carpet anymore. He may use his rag Mathrubhumi to settle political scores or divert attention but he will have to give up the land he has held on to illegally.
And the roads are still looking like canals. The roads minister went on a tour of the roads and elicited promises from officials that those potholes will be filled in "2 days." But let us wait and watch! If they couldn't repair it all these days, I doubt if they can do it in 2 days.
The only silver lining is the home minister's order to the police to stop harassing the public over not wearing helmets and seat belts. This home minister has time and again come out with orders that have helped the people - a welcome departure from the UDF days when the politicians in power let the police make as much money as possible from the public. Keep up the good work, Kodiyeri!
Lest I be painted a Pinarayi supporter for praising the home minister, let me say that the state health minister is a total failure. It is not enough to keep telling the people no one has died from chikunguniya in the state. At least show your face to the public. Mr Pinarayi, please take this woman out of this government. She is destroying the entire good image of the LDF. I pity this woman's ineptitude - even after an MP is down with fever she has done precious nothing about the health care machinery.
One heartening thing that happened yesterday was the tribal people marching to MP Veerendrakumar's son Shreyamskumar's (not sure if I have spelled it right) illegal land. The police shooed them away but I have a feeling Veeran cannot brush this issue under the carpet anymore. He may use his rag Mathrubhumi to settle political scores or divert attention but he will have to give up the land he has held on to illegally.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Ahcumama, A Hero? My Foot!
So the Left has pulled back from the brink and Manmohan Singh can sigh in relief. But then, there is nothing new in the Left's decision to keep supporting the UPA government. Power is too sweet to let go!
My question is did we gain anything by all this tough talk, or did the Left gain anything? The Indo-US nuclear deal remains as it was.
From a personal viewpoint, though, I am happy the Left did not resort to its ancient tactic of calling strikes in Kerala and West Bengal against a central government that it supports. From Keralites and Bengalis: a huge "Thank You", Mr. Karat!
One reader tells me in his comment that I am full of Hindutva garbage. Wrong and right. Because I favor the Hindutva ideology, though it is not any of the particular flavors now afloat in India. My Hindutva leanings (though I don't think it would fit the connotations of that word) are a logical culmination of my thought that in a country with a 80 per cent Hindu population, you cannot avoid Hindu politics. Beyond that I don't think I am a Hindutva supporter.
The same reader tells me Pinarayi and Achumama are the true heroes of Kerala. I doubt if we can apply the word 'heroes' to either of the leaders, and I think definitely not to Achumama.
Achumama knows only wanton destruction, as I mentioned in an earlier post. And if his faction is being ousted (or cut down) from CPM committees in Kerala, he is just reaping what he sowed. I would like to repeat: this man single-handedly has sown the seeds of destruction in Kerala CPM and watched over those plants. He, along with cronies such as MM Lawerence, kicked out and ruined the political future of many earnest party workers. If he is getting paid back for some of those deeds, why cry about it now?
And in this new world I think it is Pinarayi's brand of Communism that will find more takers. Anyone who thinks Achu can be their savior is just living in a fool's paradise. The man is just living for fame, something that is never rightfully his, but which a media syndicate comprising of Veeran and others is trying to hand over to him.
But as I said, stay tuned for my post on Pinarayi and Achu. And, yes, more such stinging comments are welcome!
On Taslima And The Left
I am waiting to know how the Left Front government in West Bengal will react to the proclamation of an Imam from the state that he will reward anyone killing Bengladeshi woman writer Tasleema Nasrin. Well, I doubt the fundamentalist Imam will be jailed - the Left likes to cultivate the radical Islamists against Hindu vote politics. But how can you allow a weirdo to take the law of the land into his hands and issue death threats? As always, the Left would have two rules in this case too, I guess!
My question is did we gain anything by all this tough talk, or did the Left gain anything? The Indo-US nuclear deal remains as it was.
From a personal viewpoint, though, I am happy the Left did not resort to its ancient tactic of calling strikes in Kerala and West Bengal against a central government that it supports. From Keralites and Bengalis: a huge "Thank You", Mr. Karat!
One reader tells me in his comment that I am full of Hindutva garbage. Wrong and right. Because I favor the Hindutva ideology, though it is not any of the particular flavors now afloat in India. My Hindutva leanings (though I don't think it would fit the connotations of that word) are a logical culmination of my thought that in a country with a 80 per cent Hindu population, you cannot avoid Hindu politics. Beyond that I don't think I am a Hindutva supporter.
The same reader tells me Pinarayi and Achumama are the true heroes of Kerala. I doubt if we can apply the word 'heroes' to either of the leaders, and I think definitely not to Achumama.
Achumama knows only wanton destruction, as I mentioned in an earlier post. And if his faction is being ousted (or cut down) from CPM committees in Kerala, he is just reaping what he sowed. I would like to repeat: this man single-handedly has sown the seeds of destruction in Kerala CPM and watched over those plants. He, along with cronies such as MM Lawerence, kicked out and ruined the political future of many earnest party workers. If he is getting paid back for some of those deeds, why cry about it now?
And in this new world I think it is Pinarayi's brand of Communism that will find more takers. Anyone who thinks Achu can be their savior is just living in a fool's paradise. The man is just living for fame, something that is never rightfully his, but which a media syndicate comprising of Veeran and others is trying to hand over to him.
But as I said, stay tuned for my post on Pinarayi and Achu. And, yes, more such stinging comments are welcome!
On Taslima And The Left
I am waiting to know how the Left Front government in West Bengal will react to the proclamation of an Imam from the state that he will reward anyone killing Bengladeshi woman writer Tasleema Nasrin. Well, I doubt the fundamentalist Imam will be jailed - the Left likes to cultivate the radical Islamists against Hindu vote politics. But how can you allow a weirdo to take the law of the land into his hands and issue death threats? As always, the Left would have two rules in this case too, I guess!
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Kerala MPs Deserve A Clap On Salem Division Issue!
Could not update this blog as much as I wanted as I got busy, but the last few days have been interesting.
For one, I think for the first time in my memory, the MPs from Kerala flexed their collective muscle. Yeah, guys it wasn't the MPs from Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh, for a change. I remember the Narasimha Rao government, packed with MPs from Kerala and K Karunakaran in the kingmaker role. Yet, Kerala continued to get the step-motherly treatment that it always got. Frankly, when the Left supported the UPA at the Center, despite all the headlines, I did not believe Kerala would benefit in any way. History was heavily loaded against our poor state. And the CPM is more concerned with West Bengal, at least the Commissars at the top of the party are.
But this time Kerala MPs showed we can expect pleasant surprises from them. And their combined show of force on the creation of the Salem Division by the Railways came after Oommen Chandy going to press saying Sonia Gandhi attending that function is not wrong. I guess Chandy has swallowed his words.
That one Kerala MP was sent out of the House by the Speaker shows how strong the protest was. Till now the state's only voice at the Center was a bureaucrat - TKA Nair in the PMO. It is good to know our MPs are finally taking their job seriously instead of playing a game of duplicity with the people who have sent them to Delhi. Hope we can see this camaraderie in more issues concerning the state, such as Mullaperiyar.
Dear MPs, we the people of Kerala, are extending you a heartfelt clap. Keep up the good work!
Okay, but the show of force notwithstanding, the political scene is a bit roiled. Will the UPA express derail over the Indo-US nuclear deal? From the Left's record, I can easily say it won't. But maybe, yes there is a very slim maybe here, Manmohan's throne is a bit shaky this time.
I have got angry responses from Achumama's supporters among my friends to this blog, accusing me of supporting the Pinarayi faction. Let me tell you that is far from the truth, even though I don't like Achumama one bit. But I will soon be making a post comparing Pinarayi with Achumama. Keep tuned for that!
For one, I think for the first time in my memory, the MPs from Kerala flexed their collective muscle. Yeah, guys it wasn't the MPs from Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh, for a change. I remember the Narasimha Rao government, packed with MPs from Kerala and K Karunakaran in the kingmaker role. Yet, Kerala continued to get the step-motherly treatment that it always got. Frankly, when the Left supported the UPA at the Center, despite all the headlines, I did not believe Kerala would benefit in any way. History was heavily loaded against our poor state. And the CPM is more concerned with West Bengal, at least the Commissars at the top of the party are.
But this time Kerala MPs showed we can expect pleasant surprises from them. And their combined show of force on the creation of the Salem Division by the Railways came after Oommen Chandy going to press saying Sonia Gandhi attending that function is not wrong. I guess Chandy has swallowed his words.
That one Kerala MP was sent out of the House by the Speaker shows how strong the protest was. Till now the state's only voice at the Center was a bureaucrat - TKA Nair in the PMO. It is good to know our MPs are finally taking their job seriously instead of playing a game of duplicity with the people who have sent them to Delhi. Hope we can see this camaraderie in more issues concerning the state, such as Mullaperiyar.
Dear MPs, we the people of Kerala, are extending you a heartfelt clap. Keep up the good work!
Okay, but the show of force notwithstanding, the political scene is a bit roiled. Will the UPA express derail over the Indo-US nuclear deal? From the Left's record, I can easily say it won't. But maybe, yes there is a very slim maybe here, Manmohan's throne is a bit shaky this time.
I have got angry responses from Achumama's supporters among my friends to this blog, accusing me of supporting the Pinarayi faction. Let me tell you that is far from the truth, even though I don't like Achumama one bit. But I will soon be making a post comparing Pinarayi with Achumama. Keep tuned for that!
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