A single division bench of Justice T Vaiphei on Thursday served notices on CEC N Gopalaswami, CEO P Naik and East Khasi Hills RO Bhalang Dhar, besides Congress, in response to a writ petition filed by Civil Society of Women Organisation (CSWO) following the Election Department's refusal to furnish the recorded statement of Mrs Alva on the recovery of Rs 23.80 lakh from AICC secretary Capt (Retd.) Praveen Davar and his accountant Vijay Malhotra during a raid on a hotel here recently.

The court directed the respondents to file their replies within three weeks. According to CSWO, the writ petition was filed to ensure smooth, free and fair elections in the State.

CSWO, in its petition, expressed fears that the money recovered from the AICC functionaries were meant to be used to influence voters in the State during the elections.

The women's body also demanded that EC officials be asked to explain why they did not stop the corrupt practices adopted by political parties in violation of the model code of conduct by bringing an unaccounted amount of Rs 23.80 lakh to the State. CSWO also wanted to know why the money was returned to Mrs Alva.

Acting on a complaint that Congress was distributing money to people seeking their votes in the March-3 polls, election observers on February 24 raided a hotel in the city and recovered Rs 23. 80 lakh from a room there where Capt Davar and Mr Malhotra were camping.

Mrs Alva later said at a press conference that the money recovered from the hotel was meant for use by four Congress candidates, Rs 5 lakh each, during their poll campaigns and that the remaining amount of Rs 3.80 lakh was set aside as expenses for the Prime Minister's visit to the State.

She also said AICC had sanctioned Rs 3. 35 crore as the party's spending in the Meghalaya elections. Mrs Alva pointed out that all the 60 Congress candidates had been given Rs 5 lakh each as per the ceiling put by Election Commission on a candidate's election spending, adding Rs 35 lakh was meant for expenses of the party for organising public meetings during AICC president Sonia Gandhi's and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's visit to the State.

TURA: Achik National volunteers' Council (ANVC), presently under a ceasefire with the state and Central governments, has said that it will remain neutral in this elections.

In a letter, signed by the outfit's Chairman, Dilash Marak, alias S M Marak, the outfit mentioned that there have been rumours in the past which speculated that it was backing one political party or the other.

"Rumours will always be there and the ANVC respect and recognise the people's 'Right' to choose their own representatives and shall remain neutral as far as the 2008 assembly elections are concerned," stated the release.

Giving a personal appeal, the outfit's chairman called upon the people to choose with wisdom and farsightedness their leaders keeping in mind the welfare of Garo Hills. "Our homeland and our people deserve better, our poor and our children deserve better, our culture and our future deserve better. Garo Hills as a whole deserve better," mentioned the ANVC.

The outfit has also permitted its members to take part in the democratic process and both, individual cadres and senior members, are being given permission to exercise their right to vote for candidates of their own choice.

Talking to reporters here, Mr Sinha, also a former Union Health Minister, said BJP had no problem in supporting a non-Congress government in the State and indicated that the party was ready to work with NCP general secretary Purno A Sangma who he described as a "good friend."

"I believe BJP will play an important role in formation of the next government. We would be happy to keep a check on the activities of the government," Mr Sinha said.

Commenting on the claim made by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on the achievements of the Congress-led Government during an election rally in the city on Wednesday, the BJP leader said everyone knew that Congress was the only party in the Country, "who can lead a government with hidden corruption."

Terming Dr Manmohan Singh a puppet Prime Minister, Mr Sinha said Dr Singh was an honest politician and a true gentleman but he could not make any decision as PM.

"BJP always believes in efficient and clean governance," he said, adding the party would not tolerate any kind of corruption as it had become a cancer in the country.

Equating himself with UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Mr Sinha said Mrs Gandhi was the star campaigner for Congress like he was for BJP. He, however, said he could draw a bigger crowd than Mrs Gandhi.

When asked what would be his favourite movie line for his election campaign, Mr Sinha with a big smile said "Khamosh" would be enough.

SHILLONG: As many as 27 out of the 331 candidates in the electoral fray have assets worth more than Rs 1 crore each, with Congress leading the pack as the richest party. Though no candidate has any criminal antecedents, at least 19 contestants have been found to have not completed their schooling.

Of the 27 crorepatis, ten are from Congress, seven from NCP, four from UDP, one each from HSPDP and MDP and four Independents. Congress tops the assets tally with the average declared assets of worth Rs 274.95 lakh followed by NCP (Rs 122.67 lakh), UDP (Rs 99.98 lakh), MDP (Rs 45.49 lakh) and BJP (Rs 7.68 lakh), according to findings of Meghalaya Election Watch (MEW), an NGO working for transparent and accountable governance.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Deborah C Marak and Congress candidate for Rongrenggri constituency, East Garo Hills has declared assets worth Rs 112 crore, while former ANVC leader and NCP nominee for Rajabala segment Ashahel D Shira had assets worth more than Rs 37 crore.

Incidentally, tribals in Meghalaya are exempted from paying income tax as the State is listed under the Sixth Schedule.

MEW said there were no cases of criminal antecedents of candidates, although in terms of education 19 candidates were found to have not completed their schooling.

Among the poll nominees 141 are graduates or have educational qualifications above or more than that with Congress again leading the list with 35 followed by UDP with 28. There are also 21 graduates among the Independents. Those studying up to the post-graduate level also include 11 Independents and eight from UDP.

Despite Meghalaya's being a matrilineal society, women have been given only 6.04 per cent representation with 20 of them in the fray. Congress has put up more women candidates with 5.08 per cent representation. The NCP candidates' list has 4.08 per cent women representation and BJP has 4.35 per cent.

In the age profile, 179 candidates are in the age group of 25-44 years, 108 in the age group of 45-59 years, 38 in the age group of more than 60 years and six in the group of more than 70 years.

According to MEW, the coming election will witness a large number of fairly young candidates with 54 per cent in the age group of 22-44 years.

TURA: He arrives only for a few minutes to meet his people and then leaves on his Bell 407 helicopter for another destination as the battlelines are drawn in the contest for the March-3 elections in Meghalaya. All he leaves behind is a trail of dust and happier memories for his well-wishers who have waited for so long to see and hear their leader speak.

Like a lone ranger fighting against a battery of stars from Congress, Purno Agitok Sangma crisscrosses the countryside meeting his supporters and calling upon the people to seek a change in the coming election by voting out Congress and bringing in NCP to power.

"On March 2 which is a Sunday, my people will go to Church to pray and ask for God's guidance as they prepare to exercise their franchise the next day," Mr Sangma says, hoping for divine intervention this time.

Since February 16, the Garo Hills strongman has been touching down in as many as five different constituencies a day courtesy the air service. "I have covered all 23 Assembly constituencies in Garo Hills. This is my second round," he says.

From remote Babadam in Rongram constituency to Kynsai in West Khasi Hills, people patiently wait for his arrival. Not all have come to support the party, though.

"I have never seen a helicopter land. So, I waited since morning," a villager from Babadam says, while others do not think so. "We came to hear our father speak," Maclin Marak of Babadam says, while the words "PA Sangma tangbangchina" (long live PA Sangma) and "Achik asong Tangbangchina" (long live Garo Hills) are carried into the hills.

Babadam, renowned for its local brew "bitchi" or rice beer, is a remote hamlet adjoining Dadenggre constituency. Here, colourfully-dressed Garo men and women give a rousing reception to Mr Sangma as a Wangala troupe leads him from the helipad to the venue of the meeting nearby to the beat of drums. Elderly women and young children come up to give him a hug and a peck on his cheek while the men folk jostle to shake hands with him.

Each time he ridicules Congress for its failures, his supporters laugh out loud, and when he says "I will return as Chief Minister to see you all," they applaud him.

In all his election meetings, he does not fail to mention the MBoSE agitation and the September- 30 firing incidents in Garo Hills.

"Our 24 MLAs could not retain MBoSE; they could not prevent nine lives from being lost to police firing. They could not bring development, and they could not find a leader," Mr Sangma says, failing to mention that there are MLAs from his party who are also among the 24 representatives.

Critics of the Tura MP accuse him of riding on people's emotions. Congress holds him responsible for all the ills of Garo Hills and say he has failed to live up to his expectations as an MP.

"What he (Purno) could not do during his tenure as Union minister has been done by Congress in the last five years. It is only Congress that can give stability and development," Congress' star campaigner and Deputy Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma says at an election rally at Tura Bazaar.

Purno Sangma, on the other hand, is taking the battle to the doorstep of Congress. He says, "I have seen the people's problems; there is shortage of drinking water in all the villages and roads are almost non-existent in the remote areas. There is absence, not shortage, of medicines in the health centres which means the stuff is being supplied elsewhere."

He speaks about a song composed by villagers of Baringre under Rongjeng Constituency of East Garo Hills, lyrics of which mention that doctors and medicines are far more expensive than life itself.

"I tell you, give me five years and see what change I bring for you. If you are not happy, then vote me out," he appeals to a crowd at Tapa Agichak, 12 km away from Resubelpara constituency.

Hijacking former Chief Minister and Congress candidate for Resubelpara Salseng C Marak's election plank to give North Garo Hills district, Mr Sangma says, "NCP will win and I will become Chief Minister. I will give you what Sonia Gandhi could not --North Garo Hills District."

Mr Marak has not put down the challenge of PA Sangma, saying "In the 2003 elections, I promised to fight for creation of North Garo Hills district, but I was defeated and could not take the matter to the Assembly. Now, my people are backing me to fulfill that dream because my successor (NCP MLA) failed.

TURA: Situated in the extreme western corner of West Garo Hills district and with Bangladesh as its neighbour, Mahendraganj is a border constituency where nothing much happens other then stray incidents of dacoity and cattle-lifting- allegedly perpetrated by Bangladeshi muslims who sneak in and out during the dead of night.

The sitting MLA and Independent candidate, Nidhuram Hajong, is pitted against the Congress's Abdus Saleh, and five other candidates including one from the NCP. Saleh is a former legislator and minister of state who was defeated by Hajong in the 2003 elections.

Incidently, Hajong won the elections on an NCP ticket but switched loyalties to the Congress only to be denied a party ticket this time.

The Congress has played it safe by giving the ticket to Saleh. Their last candidate, Mukul Das, created a history of sorts when he managed to garner only 199 votes in the hustlings, the lowest by a national party candidate.

Over here, allegiance to candidates do not necessarily run on party affiliation, but rather on caste and creed. There are 17653 voters in this constituency.

Muslims account for 6683 votes, Hajongs comprise of 4696 voters, Hindu bengalis account for third place with 4339 voters, Koch 1629 and Garos 306.

There are two muslim candidates, including Saleh, two Hajongs, including Nidhuram, a Koch candidate from the BJP, and two other bengalis.

"It is going to be a tight finish between Saleh and Hajong but ultimately our MLA will come on top," says a supporter of Nidhuram.

In the last assembly election Nidhuram Hajong trounced Abdus Saleh by a strong victory margin of 1699 votes. Hajong received 6479 votes against Saleh's 4780 votes.

"The anti-incumbancy factor is heavily loaded against Hajong. He did not deliver on his promises, people are looking for a change and want Saleh to return," says Saleh's supporter.

While day to day problems are brushed aside by the common man, it is the issue of dacoity and cattle lifting that concerns those who stay in the extreme side of the border.

"Ever since the BSF strength has risen and the new fencing has begun to take shape, crime has fallen," observes a local pan shop owner who did not wish to have his name revealed.

There is also a dark side to the recent history of Mahendraganj.

During the immersion period of the Durga Puja celebrations in 1997, clashes between hindus and muslims erupted leading to the death of two persons and clamping down of a curfew by the authorities. Much has changed since then. "People are not bothered about what happens elsewhere in the state. They will vote for the person who can ensure peace in the constituency. Nobody wants to remember the bitter past," says an observer from Mahendraganj.

By Our Reporter

SHILLONG: AICC leader Salman Khurshid claimed that it was the Congress party which brought several militants group of the Northeast to negoting table.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Mr Khurshid said that the party has taken this initiative since it was committed towards peace and progress in the region.

However, the AICC leader said that the individual candidates are free to claim for leadership, but the elected legislators with the approval of the AICC will take a decision regarding the next leader.

Recently, the union tribal affairs minister PR Kyndiah said that if things go well, Lapang would be the next leader.

It may be recalled that the congress leaders SC Marak and Dr Mukul Sangma have recently said that they are also in the race for the post of next chief minister. When asked whether the congress favoured any alliance with the NCP, Khurshid said that at present the congress is concentrating to get a clear majority.

Earlier, Congress youth leader Sachin Pilot and President of the Youth Congress Ashok Tanwar and other congress leaders also address a public rally in Mawkhar constituency. According to Sachin, the youths in the Northeast have potential to excel in various fields and the congress if elected to power will concentrate on human resource de

SHILLONG: Congress candidate for Laitumkhrah constituency Nicky F Lyngdoh condemned all candidates in the constituency for trying to influence voters in the name of religion.

Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Mr Lyngdoh said that this was a clear attempt to bring about division among the different communities of the constituency.

"This is unacceptable at all as the constituency is known for its tolerance where people of all denominations are living in peace and harmony with each other," Mr Lyngdoh said.

However, the Congress candidate said that for the overall development and progress of the constituency he has decided to constitute the first ever Laitumkhrah Constituency Development Committee.

He pointed out that in this committee special emphasis would be laid on, to provide oppurtunity to the grass root organisations to play an active role in the planning, execution and monitoring of developmental schemes within the constituency.

He also stressed about a complete accountability and transparency in the implementation of developmental schemes within the constituency, adding that the committe would also ensure that developmental schemes are not politicised, but are used for the welfare of the constituents as a whole, irrespective of community, creed or political affiliation.

The Congress candidate said that he would try his best to ensure that developmental schemes would be implemented in such a manner where the people would be truly benifites.

Mr Lyngdoh said that, to tackle the problem of unemployment he has decided to create an information and employment cell that would provide information regarding proffessional careers, guidance, counselling and vocational training.

Moreover, he said that he would continue and follow in the footstep of Mr RG Lyngdoh for what he has done for the constituency in the past 10 years. "I want to make it clear that RG Lyngdoh is campaigning for the Congress party," Mr Lyngdoh asserted.

SHILLONG: Former KHADC Chief Executive Member and Independent candidate from Nongkrem constituency HS Shylla has attacked the Congress led government for its failure to bring about development in the State.

Addressing a public rally at Smit on Thursday, Mr Shylla stated that the Congress led Government under Chief Minister DD Lapang has "no sense of direction and authority".

"It has taken the common people for a ride through its unscroupulous corrupt activites," the former KHADC CEM said adding, "there is less of development and more of corruption".

He said that this was bound to take place with the bureacrats who are dominating the affairs of the government.

"This is a democracy not bureaucracy.

But with corruption both in the legislative and executive Meghalaya has become a bureaucratic state," Mr Shylla said.

Moreover, he pointed out that majority of the legislators in both the State Assembly and the District Council have very poor knowledge of the law and this has driven the people and the State to backwardness.

According to Mr Shylla the members within the district council has not been able to translate the law nor do they have a good knowledge of it.

Though majority appreciated the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) initiated by the UPA government, however Mr Shylla felt that this Centrally sponsored would not be able to give any assistance to the under privelleged section of the society.

Mr Shylla pointed out though the Congress party would feel that she had done a great thing for the poor masses by launching this project in the State.

"Who will survive with Rs 70 day in this expensive world," Mr Shylla questions adding that this no better than distributing sweets.

"If the government is really serious towards lifing the economic condition of the under privilleged classes and also in complete eradication of poverty then the best possible option is to encourage direct funding and loans from banks," Mr Shylla said adding that this would definitely help to empower the people of the state.

Pointing out that unemployment is the root cause of militancy in the state, the Independent candidate said that the rise of militancy was because of the government’s failure to formulate policies.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the BSF said that one Indian cattle smuggler was apprehended along with 100 oxen worth more than Rs 15 lakh from border area of Dhubri district of Assam and 7 buffaloes and an ox worth Rs 1.5 lakh, while 10 oxen and one calf were also detained. The apprehended smugglers were later handed over to the police. Meanwhile, three Bangladeshi intruders were arrested while they were trying to cross over from Bangladesh border to India.

SHILLONG: Lafarge Umiam Mining Pvt Ltd (LUMPL) has bagged the prestigious Mine Safety Week Award from the Directorate General of Mine Safety for complying with the highest safety standards prescribed by Government of India. Lafarge has received this accolade for its mining operations at its Nongtrai mines in Meghalaya.

The award was presented to LUMPL at a formal function held at Meghalaya Cement, Jowai on February 10 by Satish Puri, Deputy Director General of Mines Safety, Government of India.

SHILLONG: Nehru Yuva Kendra, Shillong organized a get-together recently at Shillong. The get together was held after returning from ‘Youth Cultural Exchange Programme’ from Jammu & Kashmir last week.

When individual voters particularly in the rural areas succumb to money power, we may excuse their acts of commission because they are possibly misguided and because they vote with their stomachs. With poverty becoming a real issue in Meghalaya you cannot really blame the voters for asking money from every candidate. After all it is the political system that has kept them at subsistence. It is the political system continues to keep them poor, illiterate and uninformed about their political rights.

As an institution that believes in the spiritual guidance of its adherents, the church is expected to raise the political consciousness of people and help build up advocacy groups so that demands for development are raised by people themselves. Spiritual consciousness alone, without adequately empowering people to build their mental and physical strengths is a useless preoccupation. A hungry man has little use for sermons. He needs food and the means to earn his daily bread.

Over the years, some churches have played a predominant role in providing quality education and health care. But they have shied away from hard issues that affect the quality of life of people mainly because they are wary about criticism. Like hamlet and his eternal dilemma of ‘to be or not to be’ churches seem to be sitting on the fence when it comes to substantive issues that relate directly to governance. Interestingly, however, there are church leaders who take active part in politics and who even contest elections. There does not seem to be any hard and fast rule to debar church leaders from entering the fray. So one does not see why the church is so abashed of being involved in hard core politics.

With the coming of the MLA scheme things have become even more bizarre. Every MLA thinks it is his duty to provide a vehicle to as many churches in his constituency. These vehicles are sometime used as ambulances, which means that the number of sick people in our state is increasing by leaps and bounds. Logically you would expect the MLA to strengthen the health care facilities so that his constituents become healthy people. Here it is the other way around. This has become a state of ambulances. So much so many of them are used for purposes other than ferrying the sick.

Whoever invented the MLA scheme never imagined it would be used with such ingenuity. It is a system that perfects the art of political patronage. An individual who gets CGI sheets from an MLA under the Indira Awaz Yojna scheme is expected to remain forvere grateful to him/her. A scheme meant for the poorest of the poor becomes instead a ploy for extracting political loyalty. For the church it works the other way round. Whispering campaigns emanate from the church corridors to vote a particular candidate because ‘he had helped the church’ (u lah iarap ia ka balang). All the other acts of omission and commission of the MLA, including his failure to live up to his status as a peoples’ representative or a minister are suddenly forgotten. His virtues remains are extolled. Why? Because he donated a vehicle to the church! Is this not disgusting? Have churches not survived in the past without political patronage?

Only if the church remains an independent entity can it also have the credibility to address its followers. Otherwise, like the apostle Paul says, their sermons begin to sound like empty gongs even while the congregation falls asleep.

Political education of the congregation does not mean telling them to vote a particular party or candidate. Political education enlightens and guides people to vote wisely and not to succumb to money power. Political education enables the voter to understand issues that impinge on his day to day life and his livelihood and to demand that the system be sensitive to those needs. Belonging to a particular religion does not necessarily mean a certificate of good conduct and that voters be influenced to vote for someone from their religion. This is likely to fragment a polity which is already divided along the line of community, clan and kinship ties. Many political parties have used the church to further their agenda. This is glaringly visible in some of the urban constituencies. That the church should fall for this political bait is a sad commentary on its lack of maturity and its propensity to be easily politicized.

Using religion is bad enough but using denominations to push a political agenda is shameful. Those who use this card will never be able to rise above their petty worldviews. They can never become the statesmen and leaders that Meghalaya needs in the 21st century. Worse than the candidates who use religion are the religionists themselves who transcend denomination only because they have received ‘assistance’ from a particular candidate. Having learnt the history of bloodshed and violence in Ireland, why can we not imbibe some lessons? Why do church leaders enjoy rubbing shoulders with the high and mighty of this earth whilst they display their impatience towards suffering humanity? If the church refuses to confront corruption upfront today it is because their leaders do not want to upset those of their members who are the leading lights in politics and who also occupy the front benches closest to the sanctum sanctorum.

A leading scholar blamed the church for reducing people to the status of unquestioning followers. His contention was that the church is a one way traffic. People receive sermons but do not talk back. They have been conditioned to respond the same way even with politics. Candidates come and deliver their political sermons and people take that as gospel. There is very little debate on political issues especially in the villages.

Para church organizations which do marvelous development work have unfortunately done very little to build the capacities of those they work with in the sphere of political conscientisation. Even in an elite constituency like Laitumkhrah I was appalled that a candidate should be using the cheap tactics of organizing a concert involving kids and young people at the Fire Brigade field before delivering his political speech. As a voter of that constituency which is also the educational hub of the state I feel a sense of futility about the future of Meghalaya should such candidates win elections. Songs and dances have their place but an election platform is a place for a candidate to spell out his/her agenda and let the public raise pertinent questions. Unfortunately this is the part that candidates avoid. In fact the space to question a candidate is more available in the rural areas.

The people of Meghalaya of course are a class apart. Having been conditioned to accept all things with equanimity and gossiping, not critiquing being a favourite pastime of drawing room activists and with the church playing almost no role in building the critical analysis and questioning capacity of the faithful, because they perhaps fear that a questioning community could be a threat to their own hallowed positions, we have a polity that is so subservient and thrives on political patronage. God alone can save us from ourselves and from the complacency of religion.

But even religious complacency can be forgiven but not the use of religion as a political tool for garnering votes.

Whereas many individuals belonging to the two largest political parties in India—the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress—often argue that the country’s polity is essentially bipolar and that smaller parties have no alternative but to align themselves with one or the other "poles", the reality on the ground is far more complex. It can be contended that the process of fragmentation of the polity is not yet over and that smaller parties, including regional and caste-based outfits, do not necessarily have to become appendages of either the BJP or the Congress.

The rise of the BJP is seen as a process of the party occupying the centrist political space vacated by the Congress. Though this viewpoint is common, the reality is far more complicated. It is true that the period that witnessed the fastest growth of the BJP as an electoral force has coincided with the phase of the most rapid decline of the Congress—that is perhaps why the two phenomena are seen as correlated. However, what such a viewpoint misses is the fact that in areas where the Congress has been almost completely marginalised, it has been displaced not so much by the BJP as by smaller regional parties.

The marginalisation of the Congress in UP has not led to the BJP becoming a party with unquestioned dominance in the state. On the contrary, the party was reduced to third position in UP, behind the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party in the recent Assembly elections. In Bihar, the Congress has been reduced to a marginal presence over the last decade-and-a-half, but its decline has not led to the BJP becoming the dominant party. Mr. Laloo Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal or its forerunner, the Janata Dal, were the main agents of the erosion of the Congress Party’s vote banks while the Samata Party—itself a breakaway group of erstwhile JD—has a strength in Bihar that is equal to if no more than the BJP.

Could UP and Bihar represent the exception to the rule that the BJP grows to fill the vacuum created by a shrinking Congress? Not quite. In Orissa, Assam and Karnataka, for instance, the BJP has grown rapidly, more often than not by consolidating the anti-Congress political forces. It is another matter that other anti-Congress groups—such as the Janata Dal (United) in Karnataka, the Biju Janata Dal in Orissa and the Asom Gana Parishad in Assam—have at some stage decided that rather than compete with the BJP for the Opposition space, they could gain by aligning with the party.

If one looks at the period between the late-1960s and the mid-1980s, there were already signs of the Congress losing ground gradually to regional parties. The most obvious example would be Tamil Nadu, where the Congress today has little choice but to align with one or the other of the two main Dravidian parties in the state—the DMK or the AIADMK. But Tamil Nadu is not the only example.

Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, traditional strongholds of the Congress, witnessed similar trends even if the process did not lead to the complete marginalisation of the Congress. In Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu Desam Party rose from almost nowhere to become a powerful challenge to the Congress in the mid-1980s and has remained the main contender for power with the Congress. Similarly, in Maharashtra it was the rise of the Shiv Sena followed by NCP rather than the BJP, which first raised questions about just how firm the Congress’ grip on power in the state was.

In other words, the decline of the Congress has not automatically resulted in the rise of the BJP; put differently, the political tussle between the two largest political parties in India has not been a zero sum game in which the losses of one inevitably results in the other gaining by filling a so-called political vacuum.

Several political scientists have analysed the phenomenon of ‘identity politics’, and they contend that the benefits of the Nehruvian model of economic development remained confined to a section consisting of the bourgeoisie, high managerial elites, state bureaucracy and agrarian magnates and that this fostered resentment in the vast majority of the population.

It is this resentment that has been tapped by various political groups leading to the fragmentation of the polity. The resentment against the elite extends to a rejection of all that the elite stood for, including the notion of the Indian identity over-riding sub-national identities. Since this elite speaks the language of national integration and unity, the latter (movements of the non-elite) speak the negative language of localism, regional autonomy, small-scale nationalism, in dystopias of ethnicity—small xenophobic, homogeneous, political communities.

The world of political possibilities in India seems to be simplifying into the frightening choice before most of the modern world’s political communities: to try to craft imperfect democratic rules by which increasingly mixed groups of people can carry on together an unheroic everyday existence, or the illusion of a permanent and homogeneous, unmixed single nation, a single collective self without any trace of a defiling otherness.

The fragmentation of India’s polity is undoubtedly an outcome of the feeling among very large sections of the population that they had been left out of the development process. What is interesting, however, is that this resentment has not always manifested itself through parties and groups that claim to be speaking for the excluded sections of society.

The fragmentation of India’s polity, then, can be seen as the result of various sections deciding that an informal coalition like the Congress had failed to serve their interests. But what explains the tendency for coalitions to persist? It could well be the case that these sections perceive themselves as having gained from a process of explicit coalitions in which groups ostensibly speak for them.

It is pointless, in this context, to debate whether Yadavs as whole have actually gained because of the SP or the RJD, whether Dalits are better off since the BSP was formed or whether Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have performed better after the formation of the TDP and the Shiv Sena. What matters is the popular perception among the relevant sections that their interests are being taken care of better than in the past. INAV

Sir,

Apropos the editorial 'Gorkha Menace' (ST, Feb 18), I would like state that the Gorkha Janashakti Morcha of Darjeeling vehemently opposed the proposal to grant a status under Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to Gorkha Darjeeling Hill Council (GDHC). The Morcha has been demanding Gorkhaland by cancelling the Sixth Scheduled status. Mr Subash Ghising originally was also fighting for creation of a separate state for Gorkhas of Darjeeling (Gorkhaland) in 1986. Many people lost their lives in the struggle for creation of Gorkhaland, but the Congress government at Centre and the Left Front Government in West Bengal convinced Mr Ghising to accept the Darjeeling Gorkha Hills Council. Mr Ghising was happy to accept the lollypop given by the Centre in collaboration with Bengal government.

The hill people of Darjeeling accepted with grace the Gorkha Hill Council thinking that they would be benefited. But after 20 years of creation of the Hill Council, the people of Darjeeling are disillusioned with the functioning of the Council, which was a toothless proposition. The history of demand for Gorkha State or Gorkha Homeland has already completed 101 years. In 1907 the Hills Men Association spearheaded the demand for creation of Gorkhaland. In 1964, the then undivided Communist Party of India advocated for creation of Gorkhasthan or Gorkhaland when the Congress Government was in power in Bengal.

The moment the Left Front Government came to power, they completely forgot the demand they had advocated for. The Left Front Government tried to thwart the demand of the Gorkhas of the Hills by their dubious attitude. In 1986, after a span of 101 years several political parties and social organisations agitated for creation of Gorkhaland, but of no avail as the Congress government at the Centre did not like that the Gorkhas should have their own state within Bengal. The demographic pattern of Darjeeling district is politically and economically viable. In India there are many states whose populations are much more less than Darjeeling District but they are having their own states like Sikkim, Mizoram, Pondicherry etc.

The present population of Darjeeling District is more than 16 lakh as per the Census of 2001. The BJP has advocated for creation of small states for administrative convenience and when the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government was at the Centre, it created three states like Uttarakhand carved out from Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand carved out from Bihar and Chattisgarh carved out from Madhya Pradesh. The people of Darjeeling are different from the people of Bengal as far as their language, culture, stature are concerned. However, Bengal is adamant to keep the Darjeeling District under its thumb so as to dominate the Gorkhas.

The Gorkhas are hill people and are alike tribals. The people of Darjeeling district are not foreigners as they have come to India with land when the Darjeeling District was annexed to the then British empire. Late Ari Bahadur Gurung, an advocate and the resident of Darjeeling District, was made the member of Constituent Assembly and Late Gurung had made valuable contributions in drafting the India Constitution. The Central Government is planning to set up Second State Reorganisation Commission to consider creation of more states like Telengana, Vidharbha etc. The creation of Gorkhaland is a fit case to be considered by the Commission. The long cherished aspiration of the Hill people will be met if the Commission considers the creation of Gorkhaland.

The Bengal Government should support for creation of Gorkhaland. The Congress-led UPA government wanted to hurriedly impose the Sixth scheduled status to Darjeeling without consulting the people of the area to please the Left Front on whose support the Government is surviving. Mr Ghising, the caretaker Chief Executive Officer of Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council, wanted to impose the Sixth Scheduled status to save his empire against the will of the Hill people. Fortunately on the request of Bharatiya Gorkha Parisangh, Gorkha Janashakti Morcha, All India Gorkha League and others, the BJP timely opposed the proposal and the same was sent to Parliamentary Standing Committee.

The government of India should ask the people of the Hills what they want. They cannot impose upon the Hill people what they and their allies Left Front want. It is high time that the Central government and the Bengal government should read the writing on the wall and grant statehood to Darjeeling District.

Yours etc,
BB Chettri
Shillong -4

Imphal: Chief Minister O. Ibobi Singh told the Manipur assembly on Thursday that his government would enquire into the alleged excesses committed by the personnel of Assam Rifles (AR) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) on National Highway-53.

The chief minister was replying to a calling attention motion moved by O. Joy Singh and R.K. Aannd both opposition MLAs from Manipur Peoples Party (MPP) adding that he would also place this matter for discussion in the meeting of the Unified Command in which all the top brass of the Assam Rifles and CRPF would be present.

Both the opposition MLAs quoting the reports of the newspapers charged the 32 Assam Rifles personnel posted at new Keithelmanbi of extorting Rs 2000 per truck from the truck owners and drivers for plying their vehicles on NH-53 and the CRPF personnel for illegal collection of cement bags and Rs 100 from trucks plying on NH-53.

The chief minister further told the state assembly that appropriate action would be taken up after thorough investigation if the allegations were found true, he added. (PTI)

From Our correspondent

Agartala: In a shocking incident, Returning Officer (RO) for Raima Valley Assembly constituency committed suicide by hanging himself inside his official residence last night. Sachi Mohan Debbarma, who also holds the position of SDM of Gandacherra sub-division, is believed to have committed suicide inside his residence near Gandacherra town on Wednesday. On Thursday morning around 8 am, servant of the RO knocked the door but his ‘boss’ did not respond. Getting no response, the servant peeped through the window and spotted that his body was hanging inside the room.