A photographer’s delight!

“Earlier, my father used to walk to Parliament in Delhi. Now he has a bicycle. Once, one Malayalam daily published a photo of him riding his cycle in Delhi," laughs Bharathi, the young daughter of P Mohan. So far as lensmen go, he is their delight anywhere, whether in Delhi
or in his constituency Madurai. He still moves about – mostly alone – in his Bajaj M80 bike gifted to him long ago by his party. One day, on the way back from a fair price goods shop (!), his vehicle needed some repair. So he stood it on the road and got down to repair it. And again, a photographer passing by got a picture that hit the front page the next day!

Generally, you can find him walking to and from Parliament House when in Delhi. The man who failed to become MP thrice before he scored in 1999, ‘Thozhar’, or Comrade Mohan started as a student activist of the CPI(M) in 1973. And Madurai denizens tell stories of how he helped the city grow for the past 50 years. Madurai has five assembly constituencies. He divides his development fund equally among them. Every year, he provides Rs 25 lakh to Madurai Rajaji Hospital. He is strict in monitoring progress. A contractor hired for building a village auditorium was mixing more sand than cement. Mohan told the people how the man was wasting their money. Then the people themselves threw him out!

On a rainy morning, Jyothi Ganesh, a bank employee, was stunned. The road was water clogged. There was a single man with his dhoti folded working with a garden shovel. And it was none other than their Member of Parliament, Thozhar Mohan!...Continue

Why is there so much fuss every time someone in his or her thirties becomes a minister.

Human resource experts around the world have set the most exacting standards for CEOs. The qualifications are tough – they must be dynamic, visionary and strategic thinkers, able to handle high pressure situations, take risks and make fast and correct decisions. But what is required of politicians in executive positions in a complex country like ours – with such a diverse culture and so many different beliefs – is an even bigger challenge. Yet how many of our oldies qualify?

Delhi's Chief Minister, Shiela Dikshit, however, finds such reasoning specious. "You cannot equate politics with the corporate sector. In politics, even if you are 40, the public may send you packing if you are not working. Besides, a doctor or lawyer works for as long as s/he can, and much the same holds for politicians. It will not do to have a retirement age for politicians."

But this is not how it works in most other countries. The leaders of Russia, Japan – indeed even Pakistan – are all young. George Bush was in his fifties when he became President. Bill Clinton was 52 when he retired after ruling the US for eight years. And Tony Blair took over as British premier in his early forties. Contrast this with our own leadership. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh became Prime Minister at 72 and all key portfolios are being managed by people in their eighties and seventies who, most of the time, appear ill and tired. Remember Atal Behari Vajpayee's famous knee problems?

Maharashtra Governor PC Alexander had a distinguished career as a bureaucrat. He 'retired' officially more than 25 years ago. But since then he has been the secretary and right hand man to two prime ministers, India's high commissioner in Britain, and Governor of Tamilnadu. At age 81, he became a Member of Parliament! Natwar Singh too joined politics after retiring from the post of foreign secretary. ....Continue

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This is the first time that the Bharatiya Janata Party has won twice in succession in Madhya Pradesh. Whose cap gets the feathers for that?
The victory is that of the people of the state. This is a people’s victory from beginning to end. Five years ago, the people of the state had propelled us to power to change the maddening conditions of Madhya Pradesh. We worked well, we worked hard to do that.

The people have voted for the development that has thus taken place. They have sent us back a second time, which says that BJP has delivered to goods.

What were those special circumstances that allowed BJP to ward off the virulent attacks of the Opposition Congress party?
The complete faith and trust of the people and the hard work by the party workers and leaders. We all worked together to give a lie to the false allegations of the Opposition.

Many stalwart ministers and prominent sitting MLAs of your party lost this time, so how do you explain that?
Ours is a party of workers. Often local conditions and circumstances are such that sitting MLAs lose, but we cannot forget that new faces in large numbers have been elected this time.

We have to accept the verdict of the people.

Will you bring back the rebels?
I do not see any such prospect at the moment.

A large number of young people have been elected this year, just as you said. How many of them would be seen in your ministry?
They will surely be given a chance. The BJP had on purpose given tickets to a large number of young men and women. They are hard workers and have met the expectations of the party leadership.....Continue

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Several dilemmas haunt the "Give Telangana" party

Now TRS – the prime mover behind the demand for a separate Telangana state – is faced with a choice of siding with either PRP or the TDP-Left combine. A PRP-TRS electoral marriage may fetch the latter the maximum number of seats to contest from. But its double-front fight against a strong TDP-Left combine on one hand, and the ruling Congress on the other, may result in TRS losing heavily. If it joins TDP-Left combine, it may get less number of seats than PRP is willing to give it. In that case TRS may win the maximum number of seats it contests from. The latest twist in the tale is that TRS faces a new threat: if it combines with TDP, it can win more seats but lose local leadership, which will pose a threat to the party’s grassroots-level hold. But if it teams up with PRP, it can continue to hold the local leadership but can not expect to win as many seats as it expects to win if it teams up with the TDP-Left combine. The TDP, anxious to come back to power, finally decided to announce its support for a separate Telangana state. Ironic, as TDP itself had fought most vigorously against bifurcation of the state ever since TRS started agitating for it....Continue

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India is still fumbling for a response to Pakistan in the aftermath of its worst ever terror strike, writes Ranjit Bhushan

LeT camps in Pakistan. Back to square one. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has admitted the possibility of "rogue, non-state actors" orchestrating the Mumbai horror, but has also said that Pakistan per se had no hand in this. And jingoistic media reportage notwithstanding, it is difficult to imagine that Zardari could have ordered such a strategic harakiri.

Experts believe this is a good opportunity to mobilise international opinion against Pakistan, as many were killed who belong to other countries, so their governments are keen to get to the bottom of what happened. “This is the best time for India to mobilise opinion. Not just India, other countries are involved,” former Indian high commissioner to Islamabad, G Parthasarthy, told TSI.

There is a large element of truth in this. Apart from many countries which are willing to help – a terrorist slaughter like this has sent alarm bells ringing in most foreign capitals – the USA and Israel have been most keen to help. An FBI team is in Delhi armed with critical intercepts by the CIA, and the National Security Guards (NSG) is sifting through all the evidence to figure out the extent of the Pakistani culpability. However, it is not entirely clear how Indian sleuths from the intelligence services are going to deal with the Americans.

Israel, after the killing of five Jews at Chahad House in Mumbai, has taken it as an attack on their nationhood. The Foreign Minister of Israel, Behrak Ekud, told journalists in Tel Aviv that India has been offered "all kinds of help", but added that New Delhi has mostly declined. Some former Mossad officials are of the view that Indian commandos took too long to neutralise the terrorists, causing an unusually large number of casualties.....Continue

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