11-22-2005, 06:10 AM
Sycophancy of Congressi leaders reaches new heights...
<b>The name game</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->By Syed Amin Jafri
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy seems to believe that the best way to retain the confidence of the Congress high command, that is, Sonia Gandhi, is to pay obeisance to the âtrimurthiâ of Indiaâs post-Independence dynasty â former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Right from the day he assumed power on May 14, 2004, he has been naming projects and schemes after these icons of the dynasty.
Rajiv Palle Bata, Rajiv Nagara Bata, Rajiv Yuva Shakti, Rajiv Internet Village, Rajiv Gruha Kalpa, Indira Prabha, Indira Kranthi Patham and Jawahar Knowledge Centres are some of the schemes and programmes launched by the Congress regime. Dr Reddy has also named several irrigation projects after the troika. The list includes Rajiv Lift Irrigation Scheme, Jawahar Lift Irrigation Scheme, Indira Sagar Project and Rajiv Sagar Project. Even the Hyderabad International Airport is christened after Rajiv Gandhi.
As if these dozen-odd schemes and projects are not enough, the Chief Minister has begun naming new schemes with acronyms of Indira Gandhi. The much-touted âAdarsh Andhra Pradeshâ project has been renamed as âIndirammaâ â an acronym for Integrated Novel Development in Rural Areas and Model Municipal Areas. The three-year scheme is aimed at creating model villages and municipalities at a massive outlay of Rs 23,000 crore.
Naming of schemes after his father and grandmother raised the curiosity of Rahul Gandhi during his recent visit to the State in October. At a luncheon meeting with Dr Reddy, Mr Rahul Gandhi watched a power-point presentation on the schemes and projects taken up by the Congress government. He could not resist asking Dr Reddy why all the schemes were named after Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi.
The Chief Minister explained that as prime ministers, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had done a lot for the country and had even sacrificed their lives. They also had a close attachment with Andhra Pradesh and its people. Indira Gandhi was elected from Medak constituency and represented it till her death. Rajiv Gandhi gave a big push to information technology, biotechnology and other fields. The people of AP held Indira Gandhi in high esteem and called her âIndiramma.â
Whether you call it political expediency or sycophancy, Dr Reddy does not care. What matters to him is to keep the members of the dynasty in good humour. It is another matter that the schemes, programmes and projects named after the dynasty entail a gigantic outlay of Rs 51,000 crore over a five-year period. The State government perhaps hopes to get funding for these irrigation projects and other schemes from the Central government and the Central financial institutions by invoking the names of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
The Chief Minister is also seeking financial assistance of international funding agencies for some of these projects and schemes. But will Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, finance minister P. Chidambaram, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and the foreign funding agencies sanction funds on the strength of the high-sounding names of the schemes?
Having swept the municipal elections and the cooperative polls in the State, the Congress is keen to perform a hat-trick in the panchayat raj polls slated in the later part of next year. Thus, Dr Reddy conceived the âAdarsh APâ scheme a month ago to create a model Andhra Pradesh before his tenure ends in early 2009.
Apparently, he does not want to raise the hackles of State Election Commission by announcing the new scheme on the eve of panchayat polls. The massive plan is to be implemented from April 1, 2006, with an eye on panchayat raj elections.  The omnibus scheme, now renamed as âIndirammaâ, focuses on provision of 10 basic amenities/facilities to the people in all villages and towns in a holistic manner.
What the Congress promises to do now is nothing new. Dr Reddy seeks to pool the finances available for schemes under different departments/ministries, chalk out integrated and coordinated plans and implement them in a mission mode. While Rs 19,000 crore are available under various ongoing schemes, the government has to raise the balance Rs 4,000 crore from lending agencies. Additional funds are being sought from the Central government and Central financial institutions.
How the rural voters respond to Dr Reddyâs wooing game remains to be seen. While the finances for schemes such as Rajiv Yuva Shakti, Rajiv Gruha Kalpa, Indira Prabha and Indira Kranthi Patham have been tied up, the government is yet to identify the sources of funding for major irrigation projects such as Indira Sagar (Polavaram, estimated outlay Rs 12,000 crore), Rajiv Sagar (Dummugudem, Rs 5,000 crore), Rajiv Lift Irrigation scheme (Bhima) (Rs 1,400 crore), Jawahar lift irrigation scheme (Nettampadu, Rs 1,400 crore). The government hopes to secure central funding for Polavaram project which is the first project for inter-linking of rivers in the state.
The State government is seeking external assistance amounting to Rs 7,000 crore for various projects and schemes. The list includes Nagarjunasagar modernisation project ($ 660 million), AP State Highways project Phase II ($ 320 million) from the World Bank, minor irrigation and livelihood project (Rs 1,930 crore) from Japanese Bank for Intern-ational Cooperation and Reproduction and Child Health scheme (Rs 800 crore) from the Department for International Development (UK). The third instalment of Structural Adjustment Loan (Rs 1,600 crore) is also due from the World Bank.
With an eye on continued funding from the World Bank, the State government contemplated changes in free power scheme for farmers, asked farmers to switch over to water-efficient crops during rabi season and sought to link the supply of cooking gas with ration cards. However, on all these issues, the Chief Minister had to beat a hasty retreat, in the wake of adverse reaction from the people. For the time being, the government will lie low but try to implement the changes later.
Recently, panchayat raj minister J.C. Diwakar Reddy had raised the hackles of political parties, including the ruling Congress, by announcing that the government proposed to reduce the number of gram panchayats. The idea was to cut down the number of gram panchayats from the existing 21,000 with the purported objective of making the administration effective at the local level. In the wake of stiff opposition from his ministerial colleagues at the Cabinet meeting, Dr Reddy shot down the proposal immediately.
The next few months will be crucial for the Congress government and the ruling party. The panchayat raj elections will be held sometime in August/September next year. The government will have to ensure uninterrupted power supply and drinking water to the people during the summer months. Many of the schemes launched in the last 18 months are expected to start yielding results in the coming few months.
Dr Reddy will need to take politically correct decisions rather than opting for unpalatable actions that may cause concern to various sections of society. The fact that the Telugu Desam is unable to regain the confidence of the people and that the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and the Bharatiya Janata Party are literally finished in the State is no guarantee that the peopleâs honeymoon with the Congress will continue indefinitely. The Left parties are usually the barometer of public opinion and they can be ignored at oneâs own peril.
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<b>The name game</b>
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->By Syed Amin Jafri
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy seems to believe that the best way to retain the confidence of the Congress high command, that is, Sonia Gandhi, is to pay obeisance to the âtrimurthiâ of Indiaâs post-Independence dynasty â former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Right from the day he assumed power on May 14, 2004, he has been naming projects and schemes after these icons of the dynasty.
Rajiv Palle Bata, Rajiv Nagara Bata, Rajiv Yuva Shakti, Rajiv Internet Village, Rajiv Gruha Kalpa, Indira Prabha, Indira Kranthi Patham and Jawahar Knowledge Centres are some of the schemes and programmes launched by the Congress regime. Dr Reddy has also named several irrigation projects after the troika. The list includes Rajiv Lift Irrigation Scheme, Jawahar Lift Irrigation Scheme, Indira Sagar Project and Rajiv Sagar Project. Even the Hyderabad International Airport is christened after Rajiv Gandhi.
As if these dozen-odd schemes and projects are not enough, the Chief Minister has begun naming new schemes with acronyms of Indira Gandhi. The much-touted âAdarsh Andhra Pradeshâ project has been renamed as âIndirammaâ â an acronym for Integrated Novel Development in Rural Areas and Model Municipal Areas. The three-year scheme is aimed at creating model villages and municipalities at a massive outlay of Rs 23,000 crore.
Naming of schemes after his father and grandmother raised the curiosity of Rahul Gandhi during his recent visit to the State in October. At a luncheon meeting with Dr Reddy, Mr Rahul Gandhi watched a power-point presentation on the schemes and projects taken up by the Congress government. He could not resist asking Dr Reddy why all the schemes were named after Rajiv Gandhi and Indira Gandhi.
The Chief Minister explained that as prime ministers, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi had done a lot for the country and had even sacrificed their lives. They also had a close attachment with Andhra Pradesh and its people. Indira Gandhi was elected from Medak constituency and represented it till her death. Rajiv Gandhi gave a big push to information technology, biotechnology and other fields. The people of AP held Indira Gandhi in high esteem and called her âIndiramma.â
Whether you call it political expediency or sycophancy, Dr Reddy does not care. What matters to him is to keep the members of the dynasty in good humour. It is another matter that the schemes, programmes and projects named after the dynasty entail a gigantic outlay of Rs 51,000 crore over a five-year period. The State government perhaps hopes to get funding for these irrigation projects and other schemes from the Central government and the Central financial institutions by invoking the names of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
The Chief Minister is also seeking financial assistance of international funding agencies for some of these projects and schemes. But will Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, finance minister P. Chidambaram, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia and the foreign funding agencies sanction funds on the strength of the high-sounding names of the schemes?
Having swept the municipal elections and the cooperative polls in the State, the Congress is keen to perform a hat-trick in the panchayat raj polls slated in the later part of next year. Thus, Dr Reddy conceived the âAdarsh APâ scheme a month ago to create a model Andhra Pradesh before his tenure ends in early 2009.
Apparently, he does not want to raise the hackles of State Election Commission by announcing the new scheme on the eve of panchayat polls. The massive plan is to be implemented from April 1, 2006, with an eye on panchayat raj elections.  The omnibus scheme, now renamed as âIndirammaâ, focuses on provision of 10 basic amenities/facilities to the people in all villages and towns in a holistic manner.
What the Congress promises to do now is nothing new. Dr Reddy seeks to pool the finances available for schemes under different departments/ministries, chalk out integrated and coordinated plans and implement them in a mission mode. While Rs 19,000 crore are available under various ongoing schemes, the government has to raise the balance Rs 4,000 crore from lending agencies. Additional funds are being sought from the Central government and Central financial institutions.
How the rural voters respond to Dr Reddyâs wooing game remains to be seen. While the finances for schemes such as Rajiv Yuva Shakti, Rajiv Gruha Kalpa, Indira Prabha and Indira Kranthi Patham have been tied up, the government is yet to identify the sources of funding for major irrigation projects such as Indira Sagar (Polavaram, estimated outlay Rs 12,000 crore), Rajiv Sagar (Dummugudem, Rs 5,000 crore), Rajiv Lift Irrigation scheme (Bhima) (Rs 1,400 crore), Jawahar lift irrigation scheme (Nettampadu, Rs 1,400 crore). The government hopes to secure central funding for Polavaram project which is the first project for inter-linking of rivers in the state.
The State government is seeking external assistance amounting to Rs 7,000 crore for various projects and schemes. The list includes Nagarjunasagar modernisation project ($ 660 million), AP State Highways project Phase II ($ 320 million) from the World Bank, minor irrigation and livelihood project (Rs 1,930 crore) from Japanese Bank for Intern-ational Cooperation and Reproduction and Child Health scheme (Rs 800 crore) from the Department for International Development (UK). The third instalment of Structural Adjustment Loan (Rs 1,600 crore) is also due from the World Bank.
With an eye on continued funding from the World Bank, the State government contemplated changes in free power scheme for farmers, asked farmers to switch over to water-efficient crops during rabi season and sought to link the supply of cooking gas with ration cards. However, on all these issues, the Chief Minister had to beat a hasty retreat, in the wake of adverse reaction from the people. For the time being, the government will lie low but try to implement the changes later.
Recently, panchayat raj minister J.C. Diwakar Reddy had raised the hackles of political parties, including the ruling Congress, by announcing that the government proposed to reduce the number of gram panchayats. The idea was to cut down the number of gram panchayats from the existing 21,000 with the purported objective of making the administration effective at the local level. In the wake of stiff opposition from his ministerial colleagues at the Cabinet meeting, Dr Reddy shot down the proposal immediately.
The next few months will be crucial for the Congress government and the ruling party. The panchayat raj elections will be held sometime in August/September next year. The government will have to ensure uninterrupted power supply and drinking water to the people during the summer months. Many of the schemes launched in the last 18 months are expected to start yielding results in the coming few months.
Dr Reddy will need to take politically correct decisions rather than opting for unpalatable actions that may cause concern to various sections of society. The fact that the Telugu Desam is unable to regain the confidence of the people and that the Telangana Rashtra Samiti and the Bharatiya Janata Party are literally finished in the State is no guarantee that the peopleâs honeymoon with the Congress will continue indefinitely. The Left parties are usually the barometer of public opinion and they can be ignored at oneâs own peril.
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