Jual Oram, Maneka, Radha Mohan, Ahluwalia in race for Speaker's post

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Jual Oram, Maneka, Radha Mohan, Ahluwalia in race for Speaker's post

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, June 4

BJP veterans Jual Oram (Odisha), S S Ahluwalia (West Bengal), Maneka Gandhi (UP), Radha Mohan Singh (Bihar) are in the reckoning for the post of the Speaker of the 17^th Lok Sabha.

Though Maneka Gandhi is the senior-most member in the Lok Sabha with 8^thterm, S S Ahluwalia is equally senior if the tenures in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha are combined. Radha Mohan Singh is also a senior BJP leader from Bihar and so is Jual Oram. All of them were ministers in the Modi government and didn't make the cut in the new dispensation for different reasons.

It can be revealed that another 8^th term member of the Lok Sabha Santosh Gangwar was sounded for the post by the BJP chief Amit Shah. But the Bareli MP who was also a Minister of State (IC) Labour politely declined citing political reasons. He was lucky not to be dropped.

The prospects of Maneka Gandhi do not seen bright considering the fact that she did create avoidable controversies and spoke out of the tune. However, it may politically be beneficial in the Lok Sabha when Sonia and Rahul will have to bend before her.

BJP wants to win Odisha and West Bengal. But Assembly polls are due in 2021 in West Bengal while in Odisha it will be in 2024. Secondly,

Jual Oram is a tribal leader of eminence and his dropping was a bit of surprise. The last tribal to occupy the Speaker’s Chair was P Sangma during the NDA reign. The BJP has high stakes in tribal regions of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and the North East.

Ahluwalia is an expert on Constitutional affairs and has tremendous legal acumen. If Oram is soft-spoken, Ahluwalia is combative and well-versed in norms and conventions to run the House effectively. That he hails from a minority community is an added advantage for him and won a seat from West Bengal which was very tough.

But no one knows who will occupy the coveted post. It can be dark horse too. The Speaker's poll will be held on June 19.

ends

PM-Kisan big headache for Modi

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Exclusive report

PM-Kisan big headache for Modi

How to Link 12.56 crores Farmers with Banks before polls 

Maharashtra's 1.18 crores farmers to get Cash dole 

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Feb 10

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has issued instructions to ministries of Rural Development, Agriculture, Finance and Information Technology to link 12.56 crores land-owning farmers with banks so that Rs 2000 could be transferred in February-early March. Once first installment is gone before notification, the government can also give second installment of Rs 2000  too.

The Ministries are working day-in and day-out with 36 states and union territories to collate farmers with their bank accounts.

Interestingly, 14 states including Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and West Bengal are big beneficiaries as land records of farmers are fully computerized. Of the 12.56 crores farmers, 1.18 crores farmers in Maharashtra will benefit as their land record data is 98.83% complete and most are linked to banks too. (see Table) 

Surprisingly, the Agriculture Ministry data shows that land records is very poor in Goa where only 53% are computerized and  number of farmers is only 51000.

During the past 55 months, 34 crores new Jan Dhan accounts have been opened in the country. Of these, 15 crores are in the rural areas. Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar told Lokmat that of the 12 crores MANREGA beneficiaries, the data of 8 crores beneficiaries is computerized. “We are now trying to find out land owners and link them with bank accounts.”

Radha Mohan Singh, Union Agriculture Minister, also told Lokmat that a data base of 8.59 crores exist in his ministry.  Of the 2.22 crores are beneficiaries of 15 schemes and 2.07 crores are linked with bank accounts. There are 7 crores farmers who have Kisan Credit Cards (KCC). 

Now PM Modi wants states and ministries to complete the task of linking 12.56 crores land oning farmers with their bank accounts by February 25 so that money could be transferred directly in their accounts.

Modi has covered 67% of rural population of land owning community by his PM-Kisan scheme. The foot-print of this cash transfer will spread over 342 rural Lok Sabha constituencies.

Ends

Status of computerisation of land records
State	Number	% complete
Odisha	4524000	100.00
Karnataka	6977000	99.99
Telangana	5249000	99.44
Madhya Pradesh	7560000	99.21
Jharkhand	2304000	99.12
Maharashtra	11871000	98.83
West Bengal	6969000	98.10
Andhra Pradesh	7550000	97.16
Rajasthan	4748000	96.86
Gujarat	3634000	96.41
Punjab	361000	93.63
Uttrakhand	808000	93.58
Sikkim	57000	93.29
Haryana	1117000	92.93

Fly on the wall : Modi looking for new Agri Minister !

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Harish Gupta 

Modi looking for new Agri Minister !

Farmer is the flavour in the Modi dispensation these days. Be it Commerce Ministry or the Finance or Science & Technology, Modi wants to hear only about the farmers. After the Gujrat poll outcome, the Prime Minister wants to send a clear signal that his government is committed to farmers and government is committed to their well being. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is holding series of meetings with the farm groups and experts. The commerce ministry has imposed hefty import duty on agri products to help the Indian farmers. The Finance ministry is working over time to make announcements in the Union Budget for the benefit of the farming community. The focus will be on states where such packages will help the party more. Since this will be the last full Budget of the Modi government before the next General Elections, it will be an “agri budget”. If sources are to be believed, Modi is keen to have a new Agriculture Minister. Though there is nothing against Radha Mohan Singh who is holding the fort at Krishi Bhawan for the past four years uninterrupted. But Modi is looking for a new face who symbolises farmer. One suggestion is that let the PM keep the Agriculture portfolio with him until the next General Elections and Radha Mohan Singh be shifted to another ministry.

Kanimozhi to contest Lok Sabha

Kanimozhi who was acquitted by the CBI court in the 2G case, is beaming with joy and new found fan mail across Tamil Nadu and elsewhere. Buoyed by the fan mail, Kanimozhi now wants to contest Lok Sabha polls during the 2019 parliamentary elections. If sources are to be believed, her step-brother and DMK leader M K Stalin has given the green signal. It has been decided as part of the family deal that Stalin will stay put in domestic affairs while she will handle the national affairs in Delhi. M K Alagiri, the elder brother violated this principle and dabbled in internal affairs of Tamil Nadu and had to eat the humble pie.

How BJP made Nitish Kumar to change tune

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had declared he will put up candidates in Gujrat Assembly polls. Though Janata Dal (U) had hardly any vote bank in Gujrat after Chhotubhai Vasava parted company with Nitish Kumar. But Nitish wanted to stay neutral by fielding candidates. Intermediaries were sent to Nitish Kumar not to field candidates as every vote was important for the BJP. But Nitish Kumar was unmoved. Within hours, Jharkhand CM Raghuvar Das slammed Nitish for his prohibition policy and alleged liquor bottles are delivered at homes and pimps and brokers are making a killing in Bihar. As if this was not enough Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh attacked Nitish Kumar for his performance on the agriculture front. Radha Mohan Singh said Bihar is at the bottom of ranking of states in agriculture. Nitish Kumar did the summer-salt and JD (U)'s candidates were left high & dry.

The PM's Eagle Eye on Babus

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may be a tough administrator and officers are always terrorized. But a recent Demi-Official note gave a clue that bureaucrats are a tough nuts and take stern warnings in their stride. The Department of Personnel under the PM said “numerous instances” have to come to its notice that several officers have “over-stayed” in states without its permission. The PMO was shocked to discover that a large number of officers have been sitting pretty in states despite their tenure had ended. The PMO “viewed these violations seriously” and warned punitive action against these officers. The DOPT has made it clear that in the event of overstays of these officers, the period of over-stay shall not be counted when pension is fixed. It means that if the officer served an extra year in the state without permission, the period will not be counted service period. An angry DOPT also issued the sermon that any increment during the period of overstay will not be calculated till that date on which the officer rejoins in his parent cadre. The DOPT has directed the Accountant General of the States to stop payment  of salary to the officer beyond approved period of stay. The PMO/DOPT has also warned that any over-stay beyond approved period of deputation without prior approval of the Central Government shall lead to an adverse impact on the prospects of the officer at the time of the impalement.

Mamata's dream project

TMC Supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is working hard to expand her party's support base, quietly. The Fly learns Mamata herself is in contention for the Prime Minister's post as the leader of the third front parties like Biju Janata Dal, DMK, Samajwadi Party, TRS, Aam Aadmi Party and other smaller parties. She thinks the no single party can get a majority in 2019 and it will be an open game. The Congress will be far behind from the magic figure of 272 and the BJP under Modi won't get allies if the party fails to get the numbers. She is working hard to improve her tally of 34 seats in the Lok sabha and concentrating on another 40 seats outside West Bengal. If she is able to get 50 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 she hopes to be a key player if not a strong contender for the top post in Delhi. She dispatched Dinesh Trivedi, TMC Lok Sabha MP, to Akola to lend support to Yashwant Sinha and farmers's agitation. Derek O'brian is busy talking to smaller parties. She is talking to Babulal Marandi in Jharkhand. Nothing wrong in day dreaming as Mamata tried the same in 2014 with Mulayam Singh Yadav and failed miserably.

Modi govt worried, may hike Kharif crop prices

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Modi govt worried, may hike Kharif crop prices

Early rains and package may douse fire

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, June 8

With farmers agitation spreading like a wild fire, Modi government is taking every possible step to douse the fire. If the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was directed to handle the issue with sensitivity rather than be in a denial mode that farmers were not killed in police firing. It was after the Prime Minister personally spoke to Chouhan before leaving for Astana, that the MP government announced a cash compensation of Rs one crore each to those killed in the firing. The Madhya Pradesh Home Minister who had blamed the Congress for firing on the farmers had eat the humble pie and confessed that they were killed in the police firing.

As if this was not enough the MP Government is also opening new procurement centers across the state to procure pulses an onion at much higher price.

The prime minister’s focus before departing for Astana was to ensure that farmers’ agitation doesn’t spread in other states particularly in the neighbouring Gujrat and Rajasthan. Since loan waiver package have already been announced in UP and Maharashtra, it is expected that situation will be under control.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh was asked to oversee the situation in states in the absence of the Prime Minister. It was also decided that Union Cabinet’s decision relating to 14 crops of Kharif season be deferred. Union Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh who was to announce Cabinet’s decision, deferred his press conference yesterday. No reasons were given either by his ministry or by the government. It seems that the government wants to announce the steep hike in procurement prices of Kharif crops in a big way. It may now be done after the return of Prime Minister and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley from Paris.

The government also expects that the agitation will subside as the Monsoon is setting in MP, Rajasthan and other parts of North India within the next few days.