Time for Modi to shine nationally

Saswat Panigrahi

The gruesome and unprovoked killing of two Indian soldiers by Pakistani Army has shocked the nation. Pakistani troops entered 600 metres into Indian territory along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch sector and killed Lance Naik Hemraj and Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh. Their bodies were mutilated and their heads were chopped off. One of the heads was carried away by the enemy.

This is a chilling reminder of the brutal torture and killing of Captain Saurabh Kalia and his team by Pakistani troops during the Kargil war.

A soldier represents the nation in the battlefield. No one’s presence is as direct as a soldier’s. Every drop of our soldiers’ blood is sacred to us. The death of a soldier is a huge loss to the nation, a loss which should make us all die a little.

Read the full article in www.niticentral.com

Congress will wither away in Gujarat

Saswat Panigrahi

Lies, lies and more lies. This is what defines the Congress’s election campaign in Gujarat.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has claimed that that Narendra Modi Government is making “tall development claims” and “hollow promises”. She went to the extent of alleging that the condition of farmers is bad in Gujarat, roads are poor and the law & order situation in the State is in tatters.

But Sonia is sadly mistaken. Ironically, the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, which the Congress president is heading, said in its report that Gujarat is the fastest-growing State in the country. Of the awards given to the States by the Centre in various spheres in the last five years, as much as 60 per cent were bagged by Gujarat.

The State’s per capita income is pegged at Rs 63,961, which is higher than India’s per capita of Rs 46,492. Gujarat has given a record 72 per cent of employment out of total employment provided in the country during the last five years. At a time when nation’s agriculture growth rate is barely 3 per cent, agriculture in Gujarat has been growing at an astounding 11 per cent.

Gujarat is also one of the hottest investment destinations of the world. As for roads, the first thing anyone visiting Gujarat notices about the State is that it has the best roads in the country. 

Read the full article in www.niticentral.com

UPA clinches a tainted victory

Saswat Panigrahi

Politics makes strange bedfellows. Mulayam Singh Yadav-led SP and Mayawati-led BSP have bailed out the UPA Government in both Houses of the Parliament during the retail FDI vote.

In Lok Sabha, of the 543 members, only 471 voted on the Opposition motion against the Government’s decision to allow 51 per cent FDI in multibrand retail. While 253 members voted against the FDI motion, 218 voted for it. Ahead of the voting, both SP and BSP — which support the Government from outside — walked out of the House, thus helping the UPA sail through the FDI vote in the Lower House.

In the Upper House, of the 250 members, 232 voted on the motion. While 109 members voted in favour, 123 voted against it. BSP stood by the Government during the FDI vote while SP chose to walk out minutes before it happened. The Government scraped through the FDI vote in Rajya Sabha, despite lacking a majority of its own.

UPA-2’s decision to allow 51 per cent FDI in multibrand retail now has the Parliament’s stamp of approval, thanks to the SP and the BSP. FDI policy, after becoming a law will pave ways for multinational corporations like Walmart to colonise Indian economy. The country will have to grapple with the ill effects of this dubious policy. I have no hesitation in saying that FDI in multibrand retail will force us to deal with the equivalent of another East India Company, which will directly affect the livelihood of millions of farmers and small traders.

Read the full article in www.niticentral.com

Nothing Pyari about BJD’s mounting paranoia

Saswat Panigrahi

The BJD has a competitor now. And it is not the Opposition Congress or the BJP. The threat now comes straight from Naveen Patnaik’s former advertiser-turned bete noire Pyari Mohan Mohapatra.

It was just six months ago Pyari Mohan attempted a failed coup to dislodge Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik when he was away in UK – his first visit abroad in 12 years.

Pyari’s botched-up attempt to gather power in Naveen’s absence initially earned him a suspension and recently an expulsion from the BJD.

Mohapatra, who floated a pressure group called Odisha Jana Morcha (OJM) to “ensure democracy” within the BJD is now converting it into a full-fledged political party. The OJM is a party of BJD dissenters that aims at destabilising the party by eating into its support base.

Read the full article in www.niticentral.com