Striking a deal



Somehow, the political blackmailing and bargaining at the time the country is electing its President is all in poor taste. If states can put a price, why can’t the voters during elections. Why support can’t be bought in the civic elections when it can brazenly be in the presidential elections? Isn’t it a deal?

The other day we were discussing the political blackmailing by states in country’s presidential polls when one of my colleagues said the Kolkata tigress is demanding Rs. 22000 crores against which she may get more than the promised amount of Rs. 16,000 crores. “UPA should know TMC’s voting percentage will match the financial grant.”

Lighter discussions apart, the fact is both Mamata Bannerjee and Mulayam Singh Yadav (national president of the Samajwadi Party) have similar demands and compulsions, but they have a different style.

Mamata is offensive. She is also playing to the gallery trying to prove her political and administrative mettle. She is also
nailing the left parties for the state being in the red, but she herself needs central support to come out of the financial mess. She may be hammer hot now but can she afford to send a message to her constituency in West Bengal that she blocked a Bengali’s entry into the Rashtrapati Bhawan.

The Samajwadi Party, on the other hand, is not an ally of the UPA. Secondly, it has no personal stakes. As of now, there is neither any candidate from the state, nor from their electoral constituency. But the party has two compulsions. One, it would not want to be even seen going with the BJP driven NDA. Second, Mulayam wants funds for the state for the success of his young son as CM.

And he doesn’t want commitment alone. Already, the Congress leaders have started saying that Centre’s support to the UP government is unlikely after the presidential elections. “Who wants Akhilesh to be successful, it will be politically suicidal.”

A shrewd Mulayam knows what the Congress leaders are hinting at. His silent support to Pranab Mukherjee is not without a reason. It’s the finance minister himself who has to bargain the price for support to the UPA nominee, most probably he himself.
Obviously, he must be finding Mulayam a better leader to handle than Mamata. But the final decision lies with Sonia Gandhi. She will decide the financial support to the two demanding states as well as the fate of Pranabda. Till date, she has not expressed her mind. Pranab is also a guess.

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  • Gt12563

    If Rajeev Gandhi would have lived longer he may have done lot of good things for India.I do not think he was corrupt all these bofor talks are just to defame him.Since he is dead know we should leave him alone and let us pray peace for his soul.

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  • Anonymous

    See the funny side of news at site satiresofindia

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  • Fact

    Sujatha, you of all people know very well that there no permanent friends or foes in politics. The Congis are skilled in this game. While you are happy about the alleged ‘clean chit’ for late ‘clean’ Rajiv Gandhi despite Mr Quattrochi, you are most reluctant to accord the same courtesy to Narendra Modi who has been found personally clean by an SC appointed SIT no less. Double standards to put it mildly. However I expect no better from an HT hack.

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  • http://profile.yahoo.com/OHJK3TTRTRYEPDELSMR45CBEVI Raghavendra K

    sujata what did your great leader rajiv gandhi do when thousands of sikhs were murdered by die hard congressmen after indira gandhi’s assassination?
    rajiv gandhi becomes secular for people like you even if he quitely watched murder of sikhs in delhi and murder of muslims in bhagalpur.

    stop these blatant double standrads atleast now.
    i knwo your symathies always lie with congress party.

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  • Raghavendra

    what ever has happened in last 25 years in indian politics after the bofors scandal.one can always say that the most dishonest and opportunist politician was with name V P SINGH . that man used his anti corruption crusade as a cover for his nefarious intent of becoming PM.
    i feel the BJP and JANATADAL would not have severed alliance if Shri Chandrashekhar had become PM instead of V P Singh.

    i feel V P Singh can be called the greatest lier in our political who kept on telling indian public that he had list of indian polticians who had taken bribe in bofors scam but never revealed those names even once during his 11 month stint as PM.

    i dont see a greater dishonesty in our politics than one displayed by V P Singh during late 1980 and the year 1990.

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  • Pinakirani

    see the demonstration of bofors gun by indian army at
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaK1jFg8JBE

    Such a powerful gun for india army. Politician should leave the past and look to thefuture. Such a corruption can be be absorbedy the democracy provided pollitician play a positive card

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  • Kushal

    Grin. There’s gotta be SOME reason you’ve been reading this blog for so long, Deb. Shared interests.

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  • Ramesh Kumar

    THE PROGRAMMES YOU SEE ,REFLECTS IN YOUR WRITING ALSO.BETTER READ SOME SERIOUS BOOKS,SO THAT YOU CAN MOVE BEYOND THRILLERS.MAY BE YOU HAVENOT YET REACHED THAT AGE.

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  • Anonymous

    If I may suggest, please do watch Person of Interest by Jonathan Nolan.

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  • Octaviasmith

    Basically India is want to be part in the arctic circle.

    http://www.prlog.org/12112705-6pm-coupon-code-save-up-to-75-grab-the-chance.html

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  • Scholastiquesmith

    I think that India is so very popular country for the Arctic circle.

    http://www.prlog.org/12113774-guitar-center-promo-code-save-up-to-10-off-snap-shortly.html

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  • NSG

    why stop drones? they are doing a great job!!!!!!!! do terrorists have human rights? the day they kill another human being they relinquish their right to humanity and thus any law authority has the right to put an end his wrthless life…………..

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  • Anonymous

    This dilemma was once addressed in one of the blogs by this humble yours truly when got into an extensive duel with a certain blogger called BOBBY who happened to be a nuclear physicist.The topic was the justification of ATOM BOMBS on hiroshima and nagasaki.Bobby’s argument was japan was already on its knees and would have surrendered , I proved it conclusively quoting AKIO MORITA founder of SONY that IT WAS A NECCASARY EVIL.
    Now we hear KOREANS THINK IT WAS A DIVINE JUSTICE for the COMFORT WOMEN used by the *** military.Comfort women are korean women FORCED AS SEX SLAVES in service of japanese infantry.
    SAME I CAN HEAR A MILLION BANGLADESHI RAPE VICTIMS of 1971 war and ironically all the rapist were KHAN SENA in bagladeshi parlance , thus hailing from the very areas in NWFP where DRONES ARE DOING A MARVELLOUS JOB.
    Tasleema Nasreen’s aunt was raped by khan sena , she subsequently hanged herself.
    ISLAM RELIGION OF PEACE OR PISS
    also now shove the concept of UMMAH up your arse

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    engricn Reply:

    Tasleema Nasreen’s

    many indian respected writers tried to rape her also.this 5 times divorced women called tasleema nasreen is headache for society.if islam is bad become hindu.who stops this ***** to convert.she is tool in the hands of some foolish bengalees to defame islam.for them anybody writes some bad words for muslims or islam is HARDAY SAMRAT.u are unnatural people so always live on hate and lies.bloody idiots.

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    engricn Reply:

    SAME I CAN HEAR A MILLION BANGLADESHI RAPE VICTIMS of 1971 war and ironically all the rapist were KHAN SENA

    nothing but bullshit.khans were running from village to village for shelter.i am in contact with mukti bahini leaders according to them,

    first mukti bahini and his supporters killed 150000 people which include lot of pak supporting hindus as well.then pak army killed around same numbers to maitian law.hindus suffered more in pak action.
    grand daughter of bisr has written a book lately on this after good research.this is factual not propaganda.read .

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  • Anonymous

    Zia my pal

    Give us also an article on how this Islamic shit has created havoc all over the world. They want the rule of Hafees saeed to prevail even over Lal qila. SO what is wrong with droning them?

    Remember Kandhahar. We had no solution to exterminate the scum. If Americans are doing our dirty work, you should celebrate and not cry.

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  • prashant saxena

    Zia,

    The awesome one (who refused to take Arabic lessons when he was a kid, and now we must all listen to his BS), as a moderate Muslim you probably agree that it is sad that innocents are being killed all over the world by Muslims who the moderates like you call terrorists. You will not and can not do anything to stop them.

    So, how can you ask for the US to stop it’s drone strikes, which admittedly and regeretably also have innocent victims?

    If you are indeed what you claim to be, launch a Jehad against terrorism. Clean your own house first, so called liberal.

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  • Faulitics

    Zia is fighting for the “human rights” of terrorists by protecting these terrorists while the drones are fighting for the human rights of the victims by attacking these fanatical Islamist terrorists. A drone is more humane and has a better understanding of justice than this Zia.

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    co Reply:

    lets see you how you react when the drone kills your dear ones..I dont know which is worse you ignorance or arrogance

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  • Anonymous

    You are seeing things through the biased prism of a neo-convert. Every major terrorist strikes in the past few decades has an inspiration in the tribal areas of Pakistan. The war onterror is with an organization that unlike a nation, does not respect the conventions of war. This is a guerilla warfare. Sending in our troops to hunt the terrorists renders our troops as sitting ducks, when the terrorist blends in with the populace and landscape.
    And hence the justification for drone usage. That said the drones have been modelled on using precision guided weapons, thus minimizing the collateral. But then, if the regular population prefers to be in the vicinity of a terrorist, then US has no option. Contrarily you should blame the terrorists and their enablers for using the general population as shields and/or collateral to incite a public opinion against the fight on terror.

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    engricn Reply:

    believe me nothing can save them.

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  • Anonymous

    GOOD NEWS ! GOOD NEWS !! DRONES KILL TALIBAN LEADER !!!

    Even Pakistan celebrates as the leader of the scum called Taliban was killed by American drones. SO Zia , should you not celebrate?

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  • Abhi

    I would like Zia to write about Pakistan killing Indians through their policy of “a thousand cuts”. Magnanimity is a two way street.

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  • engricn

    94000 killed in syria in last 2 years also had mother and father.there was no blood from dead and on body of killer.he approached by mi15 few months back.

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  • engricn

    now americans are using drones in america on their own people.

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  • Anonymous

    The big issue is what do the Taliban want?

    Is Obama carrying on the drone attacks because these people are Muslims or is it because these people have attacked the US, attacked India, attacked even sensible and liberal Pakistanis and their minorities.

    The world will stop favouring drone attacks in case Taliban is replaced and dies a natural death and a liberal regime which allows all religions ot flourish takes over Afghanistan.

    I cannot figure out how the holy Koran has been interpreted to justify the haraam Taliban.I would be the happiest in case Muslims are able to themselves drone Hafees Saeed, the LeT or for that matter radicals who coerce people into following Islam of a certain kind.

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    engricn Reply:

    see a documentary film coming on aljazeera

    AFGHANISTAN ,PRICE OF REVENGE.

    u will understand everything.

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