Modi’s charm makes Nitish, Congress run for cover

After 1970s, I am sure neither Bihar nor this country has seen such a massive rally. A sea of humanity thronged the historic Gandhi Maidan of Patna to listen to Narendra Modi, the mascot of development and icon of good governance.

Hours ahead of the Hunkar Rally, a series of explosions rocked Bihar’s capital Patna, leaving at least five dead and 66 injured. One bomb went off at the Patna railway station and five other blasts occurred in the vicinity of Gandhi Maidan. One live bomb was also found under Modi’s dais. This speaks volumes about how the law & order situation of Bihar has gone for a toss under Nitish rule. But who was behind the blasts? That is now a matter of investigation.

Coming back to Narendra Modi’s speech at Gandhi Maidan, the first thing which comes to my mind is his ability to connect with the masses. Modi spoke in Hindi, interspersing his speech with Bhojpuri, Maithli and Magehi — the three main dialects of the State – there by struck a chord with the audience.

It was in this very Gandhi Maidan that Loknayak Jayaprakash Narayan kick started the Sampoorna Kranti Movement (Total Revolution Movement).

Read the full article in www.niticentral.com

India sees hope in Modi

Saswat Panigrahi

The ‘secular parties’ had never expected such a mammoth crowd presence at BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s Vijay Shankhanad rally at Kanpur.

This at a time when the BJP (though officially) is at a low ebb in the State. But the sea of humanity who came to listen to their favourite leader signaled it otherwise.

It is said that the road to Delhi goes through UP. The unprecedented crowd presence at Budha Park in UP’s industrial city Kanpur gave clear signal to that effect.

Time now to face the truth. The troika of Congress-SP-BSP has virtually backstabbed people’s faith and that anger have converted into a huge support base in favour of the BJP in UP. It is time the political punditry in Delhi reads that very fact.

What is more significant was the fact that the way Modi directly connected himself with the audience. The way he created a dialogue between himself and the audience during his speech is indeed commendable. Modi was asking questions and the proactive audience was simply responding. Many say with this model speech, Modi has formally kicked off the BJP’s campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

Read the full article in www.niticentral.com

Odisha 1999: A super cyclone remembered

Saswat Panigrahi

I was barely 19 when the devastating super cyclone of 1999 hit Odisha. I was in my second year of graduation at the prestigious Bhadrak Autonomous College, the largest college of Odisha.

I remember how the cyclone 05B battered and bruised Odisha’s coast on October 29. It was the deadliest Indian storm since 1971. As many as six coastal districts — Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Puri and Ganjam were among the worst-hit. Erasama of Jagatsinghpur district was ground zero for the disaster. The cyclone claimed at least 8,000 people died there.

The devastating super cyclone ravaged Odisha’s coast for 30 hours with winds blowing up to 300 kilometres per hour and claimed at least 15,000 lives.

After the storm blew over, many others died of starvation and disease since rescue efforts could not reach them at the right time. Besides, the storm was followed by massive floods. Property worth crores was damaged.

Read the full article inwww.niticentral.com

UPA Government is well past its sell-by date

Saswat Panigrahi

The Manmohan Singh Cabinet last week gave an unceremonious burial to the controversial Ordinance as well as a related Bill meant to protect the convicted lawmakers. A shameless Congress, which had sought to provide immunity to convicted lawmakers, may take high moral ground on the overturn of the Cabinet decision. But the fact of the matter is both the Congress and the Government were caught red handed with their pants down. They had no choice but to withdraw the said Ordinance and the Bill.

The overturning of the Cabinet decision came in the face of mounting pressure from the Opposition parties, especially the BJP, and a growing public opinion against the unconstitutional and morally wrong measure. The Supreme Court in its July 10 judgement had held that lawmakers convicted in criminal cases, with imprisonment of two years or more, would face immediate disqualification. To subvert the Supreme Court judgement, the Government had introduced the Representation of the People (Second Amendment) Bill, 2013 in Rajya Sabha.

The intent of the Congress Government was quite clear. It was trying to protect the likes of Rashid Masood and Lalu Prasad Yadav. The Bill was referred to the Standing Committee of Parliament. Even though, the Bill was pending before the Standing Committee, the Government in an utter haste issued an Ordinance. It was approved by the Congress core committee headed by Sonia Gandhi and cleared by the Manmohan Singh Cabinet after much deliberation. Then it was forwarded for the assent of the President.

Read the full article inwww.niticentral.com