CEC Sham Lal Shakdher turns down plea to postpone by-elections in Rajasthan

Taking A StandElection Commissioner Shakdher: Unilateral initiativeChief Election Commissioner Sham Lal Shakdher is at logger-heads with the Central government on the question of electoral reforms and holding of byelections. Last fortnight, he deftly turned out Congress(I)'s plea to postpone the by-elections to eight parliamentary seats and 26 assembly seats in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa and Karnataka and ordered that elections be held in the second week of June.He made the announcement unilaterally when all the state governments did not respond to his request to suggest possible dates for holding the elections. While other chief ministers refrained from making any commitment, Uttar Pradesh's government sought the postponement only last month on the pretext that it would not be desirable to conduct elections during the season when students would be writing their examinations.Harijans Stake A ClaimAlthough the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee(I) (UPCC-I) was reconstituted only four months back, some influential Congress(I) leaders in the state have demanded that it be reconstituted again. After Dharamveer, a Harijan member of the Rajya Sabha, was replaced as UPCC(I) president by the septuagenarian Brahmin Bishamber Nath Pandey, over 15 Harijan MLA's complained to the prime minister that Harijans were not getting enough representation in the UPCC(I). They also alleged that in the recently concluded membership drive, Harijans had been kept out. They claimed that the LIPCC(I) inflated the actual membership figures with bogus membership the UPCC (I) leadership had claimed recently that it had enrolled 35 lakh members in the state, which would mean that every fifth adult in Uttar Pradesh was a Congress (I) member.Summer CleaningThe Congress(I) high command has finally decided to dissolve the controversial West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee(I) (WBPCC-I), comprising 46 members, and replace it by a less unwieldy and more cohesive 17-member committee. Ajit Panja, the present WBPCC(I) chief, is almost certain not to lead the new committee, though his inclusion in it has already been decided upon. The high command has dropped nearly 70 per cent of the existing members, some of whose names figure in the police rough list. Instead, an eminent scholar, like Nihar Ranjan Roy, former director of the Institute of Advanced Indian Studies, Simla, has been inducted into the new committee. The new president of the WBPCC(I) is likely to be chosen from among Ashoke Sen. the famous lawyer, Debiprasad Chattopadhyay, Rajya Sabha member and former Union commerce minister, and Bholanath Sen.Ominous PortentsLast year, when the Australian ambassador in New Delhi, Gordon Upton, filed a report to the Australian foreign ministry regarding the possibility of an army coup in India, he sparked off an unseemly controversy with the Indian Foreign Ministry lodging a strong protest and members of Parliament demanding his expulsion. According to senior army sources, however, Upton's evaluation was not all that much off target.Though the possibility of an army coup in India is still rather remote, that has not prevented certain top commanders from planning for such an eventuality. According to the sources, at one recent conference held under the Eastern Command in the north-east sector, the conference dealt specifically with the operational and tactical requirements for a takeover by the military. The conference, which was labelled top secret, was punctuated with complaints against the manner in which ruling party politicians were interfering with the workings of the Defence Ministry, rising and blatant corruption, the misuse of the military for political ends and the growing economic chaos in the country.Obviously, the planning- was not with the blessings of the air force, the navy and the chief of army staff. But it does indicate the seriousness of the situation and the rumbles of discontent within what was once considered an exceptionally disciplined force. In fact, from what the sources revealed, the possibility of a military takeover in the distant future could not entirely be ruled out if the political and economic situation continues its current downward slide.Skeletons In Rao's CupboardRao (left) and Urs: Change of leadership?Karnataka Chief Minister R. Gundu Rao's day of reckoning is not far off. For one, former chief minister Devraj Urs had a secret rendezvous with Rajiv Gandhi in New Delhi last week. This has sent shock waves among Gundu Rao and his ruling cabal, all hand picked by Sanjay Gandhi.But that is not the only cause for concern. The latest news from sources haying access to "highly classified information" is that Rao and his Finance Minister, Veerappa Moily, have been the target of sustained official investigations by a team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officials. The team allegedly unearthed, during a careful combing operation spread over 10 days. a huge cache of hard cash and other types of "donations".While very sparse publicity has been given to the CBI raid and its startling results, there is talk of an imminent change in leadership, with Urs waiting in the wings to fill the breach, if not by himself straightaway, at least with one of his nominees. Recently, when a group of 11 disgruntled Lingayat Congress(I) legislators approached Urs for admission into the Congress(U), he advised them to tarry for a while. This is another indication of the former chief minister's desire to get back on Mrs Gandhi's bandwagon.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Feb 21, 2014 09:03 IST--- ENDS ---

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CEC Sham Lal Shakdher turns down plea to postpone by-elections in Rajasthan

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