www.indianexpress.

com

TheIndian EXPRESS

THE OP-ED PAGE

l MONDAY l APRIL 8 l 2013

11

Day of the turncoats

No party is averse to welcoming political migratory birds. But the Congress takes the cake
the SP and in the state government whenever the party was in power in Lucknow. Yadavs fondness for him hadtworeasons.First,inanerawhen the OBCs were rising to power, Vermawasthemostimportantleader of the Kurmis, and thus supplemented Yadavs enormous following among the Yadavs. Secondly, he never looked upon himself as Netajis eventual successor. Yet, the breach between the two came when Yadav discerned that Verma was losinghisholdontheKurmisandstarted downgrading the now steel minister. Afterastintinthewilderness,theambitious Verma joined the Congress party and has since been a member of the Union council of ministers. In this context, especially because the Congress-led UPA government cannot afford to lose the Samajwadi Partys support from outside, despite Yadavs incorrigible habit to blow hot and cold in the same breath, the intriguing question that arises is: how can the steel minister afford to disregard the high commands directives? After all, following his intemperate tirade against Yadav, Sonia Gandhi had walked up to Yadav with folded hands to apologise. The Congress party publicly apologised to the SP boss separately. But Verma refused to follow their lead. To express regret was as far as he would go. He didnt utter the word apology, and indeed launched another attack on Yadav, who is repeating his demand that the steel minister must be sacked. Could there be a more vivid
C R SASIKUMAR

Another experiment fails

The chief justice became chief of executive. But polls still cannot take place
LESS than three Prachanda reweeks after the minded Regmi top leadership of that he was inthe four major stalled to conparties made duct the polls in Supreme Court June, and asked Chief Justice him to annoKhil Raj Regmi unce the date at head of the electhe earliest. toral governRegmis erstment, the elecwhile supporters tion commission among domestic has made it clear and internaYUBARAJ that the contional groups GHIMIRE stituent assembly are clearly polls cannot take divided. place within the early June Like Prachanda, Nepali deadline. While missing a Congress president Sushil poll deadline is nothing new, Koirala and CPN-UML chief this instance goes against the Jhalanath Khanal are facing very basis of having an incum- hostile responses within their bent CJ as chairman of the parties for defying their recouncil of ministers. spective central committees The leaders had stated warning that the CJs apthat Regmi as chief of execupointment as executive head tive was meant purely to rewas a bad idea. The CJ as well store constitutional order by as the four leaders have been holding elections. On reduced to members of a Regmis insistence, they helpless club representing agreed to insert a provision in the nations predicament, their agreement that should quite apathetic to the undersome situation emerge becurrent of mass frustration yond control, the election and fury. may take place in November Law and order is not

INDER MALHOTRA

IN THE unending wordy duel between Beni Prasad Verma, Union steel minister and Congress member of Parliament, and his one time Netaji Mulayam Singh Yadav, supreme leader of the Samajwadi Party that rules the countrys most populous state, Uttar Pradesh, the latest is that the Congress leadership has reined in the recalcitrant steel minister from continuing his war of words with Yadav. At a meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhis trouble-shooter, Janardan Dwivedi, the aggressive Verma has reportedly agreed not to malign Yadav, provided the latter also observes restraint. How this ugly episode pans out is of little concern to me. The event is important because it underscores a widespread feature of the Indian political scene about which the political class and even the public opinion appear unconcerned: the great power of the turncoats, deserters from one party that are welcomed by its rival with open arms. Verma is a classic example of this phenomenon. For long years, he was Yadavs acknowledged number two, both in

THE SPAT between Beni Prasad Verma and Mulayam Singh Yadav is important because it underscores a widespread feature of the Indian political scene: the great power of the turncoats.
display of the turncoats clout to the point that even his new mentors are reluctanttopushhimbeyondapoint? When asked why the Congress was treating Verma with kid gloves, a party leader replied, strictly on condition of anonymity, We have no Kurmi leader worth the name in UP. We dont want him to turn his back on us, too. Interestingly, there are rumours that the steel minister wants to malign Yadav and team up with Mayawati. He emphatically denies this, of course. But who knows what kind of realignments might take place before the 2014 general election. No party is averse to welcoming political migratory birds, but the Congress takes the cake in this respect. Verma is only one of a horde of defectors from other parties now flourishing in the Congress ranks. In the state of Maharashtra, where the

Congress is in an uneasy coalition with the Nationalist Congress Party led by Sharad Pawar, all the stormtroopers of the Congress are former leaders of the Shiv Sena, two of them former chief ministers of the state. All of them are holding high office. One of them, Narayan Rane, has staked his claim to be chief minister more than once. In Gujarat, the Congress has only two pillars to support its crumbling structure Shankersinh Vaghela and Keshubhai Patel who are both stalwarts of the RSS and the BJP. The list is illustrative, not exhaustive. However, the case of Rashid Alvi deserves a mention. At one stage he had left the party in a huff to explore fresh pastures, first in the SP and then in Mayawatis Bahujan Samaj Party. Then he came back and was promptly made a party spokesman. Probably the case of the redoubtable Pawar sums up the state of the Indian polity. Originally a staunch Congressman, he jettisoned his party in 1978 to become chief minister of Maharashtra with the support of the Janata Party then ruling in New Delhi. Rajiv Gandhi brought him back into the Congress in 1987. Later, he revolted against Sonia Gandhis leadership with the slogan Raj karega hindustani (An Indian will be in charge). Since 2004, he and the Congress have been coalition partners in both Delhi and Mumbai. The writer is a Delhi-based political commentator

Nextdoor

NEPAL

JAITHIRTH RAO

Can we agree to vote only for parties that promise to implement the police reforms?
DEAR readers: I congratulate those among you who do not have their children in the police force of this greatcountryandIcommiseratewith those parents whose children have becomepolicemenandpolicewomen either through legitimate means (UPSC examinations?) or through less savoury means (bribing the ministerinchargeofpolicerecruitment!). According to the eleventy-eleventh amendment of the Indian Constitution, our honourable Executive Branch is required to so conduct affairsofstatethatpolicemenneedtobe beaten by legislators, policewomen needtobeharassedbymobsandsenior police officers need to be killed in a manner where the principal accused have unshakeable alibis for being hundreds of miles away from the scene of the crime. Police personnel are hailed as heroes for bumping off criminals in incidents euphemistically referred to as encounters; a few months later, these same individuals are charged with the murder of innocents. Police officers are required to enter dangerous alleys in dim-lit neighbourhoods, to confront so-calledterrorists;itisobligatoryfor them to be killed by adversaries who are better-armed. Instead of winning a gallantry medal, the concerned dead police officer can be safely accused of falsely implicatinginnocentyouthandgivingthemthechase.Itistothecreditof the Executive Branch of our great Government both in the various provinces and in the imperial city of Delhi that their constitutional duty is being fulfilled with great vim, gusto and panache. Our great Government has money to send ministers and officials on unneeded foreign trips, to build gigantic stadiums that stand as mute Ozymandian witnesses in their glorious emptiness, to buy special VVIP helicopters at inflated prices, to subsidise the rich as they buy diesel for their SUVs and generators, to keep starting new ministries at the drop of a hat while never shutting down old redundant ministries, to provide sinecure appointments to their buddies and to gift contracts for ghost canalsandnon-existentdamstotheir cronies. But our Government does not have money to provide tiny flats for constables who are required to liveinthatchedhutsandasbestoscabins in slums and shanties. Our police stationsdonothaveair-conditioners; never mind that air-conditioning improves productivity, we just cannot letmerehavildarsgetuppitybyhaving good working conditions. Besides, the power cuts of our land mean that these devices will not work anyway. Our police department budgets do notprovideforpaymentofelectricity bills or purchase of diesel for generators. This is available only to exalted Ministers and Officials. Our police stations have computers that gather dust as they are not connected to any intelligent database and do not serve any useful purpose. The primary duties of our police are: one, VIP Security distinct from VVIP Security, which is provided by elite commandos who are hierarchically far above mere policemen and policewomen. Two, crowd control it is a distinction of our countrythatenormouscrowdsgather forreligiousfestivities,marriagesand frankly for no reason at all. Crowds are almost invariably lacking in discipline and given to disobeying laws. Ourpoliceforceisrequiredtocontrol crowds not by using force, but by shoot at them with quainter colonialera 303 rifles. Once the Mob has accomplished its purpose, it is imperative that dozens of shrill spokespersons of spurious organisations make wild demands (these days these demands are made on primetime TV) to punish the police, to establish a Commission of Inquiry (preferably a Judicial one) and to otherwise confuse an already bewildered police force. Thesecondaryandincidentalduties of our police, which they may carry out optionally, in the unlikely, nay, virtually impossible event that understand these bizarre laws and then are going to be held responsible for failing to enforce that which is inherently unenforceable). There was a time when the only route to enter the police was a legitimate one, when parents were proud that their children were in the police, when the abbreviation CID signalled a high level of expertise. Can those times come back? They can quite easily. All we have to do is to implement the recommendations of the numerous police commissions of the past. Instead of doing something as obvious as this, our great Government is likely to take the time-honoured expedient route of appointing yet another Commission to come up with yet another report. That report will then be examined by a non-Empowered Group of Secretaries who will then pass it on to an Empowered Group of Secretaries who will then pass it on to a non-Empowered Group of Ministers who will then pass it ontoanEmpoweredGroupofMinisters who will then pass it on to a Cabinet Sub-Committee who will then pass it on to a Cabinet Committee. My tale, Dear Readers, is as long as Hanumans proverbial tail. In the next elections, perhaps we can all agree to vote only for those parties that promise to implement thepolicecommissionreports.Isthat an option? Or are we dreaming? The writer is a Mumbai-based entrepreneur

Poor, powerless police

CREDIBLE POLL surveys show that the promonarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal has emerged as one of the favourites. This coincides with the substantial decline in support for the Maoists.
instead. But the ECs inability to hold polls in June is largely because of the refusal, by most political parties, other than the big four, to recognise the constitutional status of the executive. They call Regmis government, packed with retired civil servants, a puppet of the four-party syndicate a high-level machinery of the party chiefs with no constitutional status. The governments constitutional validity is yet to be determined by the SC. Regmi is under pressure to quit as CJ by many parties, the Bar, human rights groups and civil society, who fear the SC may not be acting freely, fairly and fearlessly in Regmis case. At least 33 parties, including the Communist Party of Nepal-Maoists, the breakaway group from the Unified Communist Party of NepalMaoists, have told President Ram Baran Yadav that they will not participate in polls until there is a level playing field. They also demand Regmi be replaced by a politician as prime minister. The EC has already suspended the process of updating the voters list. The EU and its ambassadors seem to be the first to review their stance and state publicly that a conducive atmosphere is the first precondition for a free and fair poll. The EU had actively lobbied for Regmi. Maoist chief favourable, as two incidents demonstrated. On March 22, the president had to cancel his trip to Pokhara in central Nepal, where he was scheduled to inaugurate the national convention of the Federation of Nepali Journalists. Two weeks later, CPN-M cadres symbolically captured the vast stretch of Regmis agricultural land along with that of his fatherin-law in western Nepals Bardia district. The police removed the red flags planted and enhanced security, but the events show the general state of law and order. Credible poll surveys have shown that the promonarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal, which has been campaigning for a Hindu Nepal as well, has emerged as one of the favourites. This coincides with the substantial decline in public support for the Maoists, perceived as the biggest reason behind todays chaos and uncertainty. The NC and CPNUML are sharply divided over future political equations while the Maoists are already divided within. The situation is clearly not favourable for the parties. But the blame of the current failure might stick to the CJ, which means yet another experiment with Nepal as a political laboratory has failed. yubaraj.ghimire@ expressindia.com

OUR GOVERNMENT does not have money to provide tiny flats for constables required to live in thatched huts and asbestos cabins in slums and shanties. Our police stations do not have air-conditioners; never mind that air-conditioning improves productivity, we just cannot let mere havildars get uppity by having good working conditions.
imploring, begging and beseeching the self-appointed leaders of the crowds to take pity on the police personnel.Three,mobcontrolthis is distinct from crowd control. Mobs do not congregate on religious holidays.Mobsareorganisedbyourgreat Political Leaders with the specific purpose of creating trouble while making hysterical demands of an unreal and patently impossible kind. Theprincipalpurposeofmobsseems to be to incite the police to charge themwithquaintcolonial-eralathisor they get time off from the three primary duties are: One, investigating crime. Two, nabbing criminals. Three, keeping the streets safe. Four, reading up all the new laws which our great Legislatures keep passing. (I am told that there are plans for a Police Mob to agitate that Parliament should stop meeting, because each time there is a relatively undisturbed session of Parliament, more unimplementable laws are put on the statute book; the hapless police are required to first

SARITHA RAI

The

FIFTH METRO

In the twentysomething view

Its slim pickings for young MBA graduates out on the job market
BY THE end of the academic session, only half the students of Christ University, many of them engineers with MBAs (a winning combination by any hiring yardstick) have been placed. Contrast the scenario with last year, when three-quarters of the students had already been placed by this time of the year.
sametime,engineerswhoweregivencampus offer letters by Indias leading IT company,HCLTechnologies,wentonaprotest in New Delhi as the company had given no word on their joining dates even 18 months later. articulate and poised. That makes it a must-do amongst top Indian and multinationalemployerslookingtorecruitatcampuses outside the top engineering and management school ambit. Yet, this year, by the end of the academicsession,onlyhalfthestudentsofChrist University, many of them engineers with MBAs (a winning combination by any hiring yardstick) have been placed. Contrast the scenario with last year, when threequarters of the students had already been placed by this time of the year. Recruiters are coming but their selects, the number of graduating students who they make offersto,arelower,saidplacementcoordinator Molly Joseph. Last year, 103 companies came to the campus to recruit. This year, there have been 56 companies so far. On the day Frances second-largest bank, Societe Generale, was on campus, MBA students Pankaj Sharma and David Poly, both 22, and Kavitha B., 24, were on tenterhooks. They had made it through a writtentestandwereawaitingtheresultsof the group discussion round. Between them, the three had already gone through the placement drill at a dozen companies and the anxiety levels were up. Each time the stress builds up as we think, if we dont clear this one, what if the next company is tougher? said Kavitha. The competition is severe but options are fewer, said Poly. He has seen several students sweat throughwrittenrounds,gaspforwaterduring interviews and break down after not makingit.Peoplegetverydepressed,hesaid. The mood is subdued for extraneous reasons as well. For the first time, some MBA students at an IIM failed to get placed this year during the placement season that ended a few weeks ago. Around the AtChristUniversity,placementseason started in November and the college-dictated salary cut off for companies this year isRs3.5lakhperannum.Thefirststudents who got offer letters in hand were euphoric. Cisco generated great excitement on campus for its generous salary offers. But as companies like Bosch, Accenture, TCS and Federal Bank came and departed, the ones who remained are jumpy. Awaiting brands like Hindustan Unilever, Johnson&Johnson and Capgemini, they tweaked resumes and asked for tips. Im learning how to handle the pressure, said David who confessed that he had been selective in attending written tests. Kavitha is an engineer and she too has been choosy. She will settle only for jobs in herMBAspecialisation,humanresources. She wants to work only in south India. The work profile and the company brand are more important to her than the compensation package. Her parents want her to get a job where she can balance her personal and professional life. But she and othersinherMBAclasshavestudentloans to pay. The two-year MBA programme costs Rs 6 lakh in tuition fee alone. She has begun to worry. Perhaps as a result of the economic slowdown,afewbluechipcompanieshave arrivedatChristUniversityforplacements fortheveryfirsttime. Companiescouldbe saying, lets go to the smaller schools where we can hire at lesser salaries, get eager employees and deal with less attrition,speculatedMollyJoseph,theplacements coordinator. The students are grateful for this unexpected fallout of the economic deceleration. saritha.rai@expressindia.com

LETTER FROM BANGALORE

THE riveting drama at leading Indian campusesatthistimeoftheyearprovidesa truthful glimpse into the state of the economy as seen through the eyes of twentysomethings. As many middle- and upper-middle-class college graduates perch at the edge of the countrys job market,thesombre,glummoodportraysapicture more real than cold statistics and the complex economic predictions by government agencies. One particular act unfolded in March at Bangalores leading Christ University, where 620 MBA students are plunked in the middle of campus placements. Christ University is not in the same league as the IIMs, but its MBA programme is increasinglysoughtafter.Itisatop-rankedBangalore institution whose students are smart,