Fodder scam verdict: RJD chief Lalu Prasad held guilty, sent to jail

Seventeen years after illegal withdrawals worth Rs.37.70 crore was detected from Chaibasa treasury in Jharkhand, the law finally caught up with the then Chief Minister of Bihar; Lalu Prasad and 45 other accused with a Special CBI court in Ranchi on Monday convicting them for facilitating the fraudulent transfer of public money. The quantum on sentence against him will be pronounced on October 3.

The amount was withdrawn from Chaibasa treasury by Animal Husbandry Department (AHD) officials on the basis of fake bills and vouchers procured and processed in connivance with suppliers, senior bureaucrats and politicians from 1992 to 1996.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav

The high profile trial this morning ended with Lalu's conviction as judge Pravash Kumar Singh held the 65-year-old Member of Parliament from Saran "guilty" behind the scam that grabbed nation-wide notice for its scope and brazenness.

In addition to his conviction, Lalu also stands to lose his Lok Sabha membership in the light of an earlier Supreme Court's order that barred convicted members of Parliament and state legislatures from completing their terms. Lalu Prasad is now left with limited options. Legally, he is sure to challenge the verdict in the higher court. However, it is extremely unlikely for him to get any reprieve before the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, which is barely eight months away. Lalu Prasad is likely to field his eldest daughter Misa from Saran Lok Sabha constituency.

Lalu Prasad arrives in court.

On political front, Lalu Prasad is already speaking about passing the baton to his son Tejaswi Yadav, which can cause some heartburn in his party. Tejaswi, 24, just cannot lead a party where veterans like Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, Jagadanand Singh, Prabhunath Singh and Ramkirpal Yadav are Members of Parliament. The biggest challenge for RJD is to keep the party intact in the run up to the Lok Sabha polls, which is also known as the opportune time for shifting allegiance.

The convicts have been held guilty of conspiracy, misconduct by public servant, abuse of official position, forgery, and cheating with knowledge that wrongful loss may ensue to public exchequer which the offenders were bound to protect.

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The Right To Reject: Indian Democracy’s New Hot Button

The Supreme Court has once again lived up to its role as the guiding light for Indian democracy. By directing the Election Commission to introduce a new option in electronic voting machines (EVMs) for voters to reject all candidates, the apex court has brought in an important reform in our electoral system. 

The historic judgement holds the potential to tectonically change the way elections are held in world’s largest democracy. 

SC’s verdict – Important points 

Voters will have the option to register a negative vote to select none among the options without comprising secrecy of vote. 

Negative voting would lead to systemic change in polls and political parties will be forced to project clean candidates – SC 

Negative voting would foster purity and vibrancy in elections – SC 

Earlier, a voter who wished not to register his/her vote had to fill a form at the polling booth for the same. As the form would carry name and signature, the person’s fundamental right to secrecy of vote was compromised. 

The Supreme Court observed that a distinction cannot be made between the right to vote and right not vote. The right to reject candidates is also a fundamental right of speech and expression under Constitution, the SC observed. 

The right to choose ‘None Of The Above’ on the EVM is not a negative vote, it should be construed as a positive vote in a democracy. 

What happens if the percentage of votes for ‘None Of The Above’ option is more than the votes polled by candidates? Today’s judgement is silent on this – the law will have to be amended. 

Only the Parliament has the right to make amendments in the People’s Representation Act. 

Given the Lokpal Bill experience, it remains to be seen whether political parties will see the SC verdict in positive light and work to clear the grey areas and ensure its speedy implementation. 

While the SC judgement has addressed a fundamental flaw in the electoral system, will voters choose to stand in queue for hours just to register their negative vote remains to be seen. 

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Narendra Modi "Man Of Developing India"

Narendra Damodardas Modi ; born 17 September 1950) is the 14th and current Chief Minister of Gujarat, a state in western India, representing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He is the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP and the centre-right National Democratic Alliance for the upcoming 2014 Indian general elections.

Modi was a key strategist for the BJP in the successful 1995 and 1998 Gujarat state election campaigns. He first became chief minister of Gujarat in October 2001, being promoted to the office upon the resignation of his predecessor, Keshubhai Patel, following the defeat of BJP in by-elections. In July 2007, he became the longest-serving Chief Minister in Gujarat's history when he had been in power for 2,063 days continuously. He is currently into his fourth consecutive term as Chief Minister.

Modi is a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and is described as a Hindu nationalist by media, scholars and himself.^[1][2][3][4] He is a controversial figure both within India and internationally.^[5][6][7][8] While his administration has been criticised for the incidents surrounding the2002 Gujarat violence,^[8][9] he has also been praised for his economic policies which are credited with creating the environment for the high economic growth in Gujarat.^[10]

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The Arts and Politics

A strong relationship between the arts and politics, particularly between various kinds of art and power,^{[citation needed]} occurs across historical epochs and cultures. As they respond to contemporaneous events and politics, the arts take on political as well as social dimensions, becoming themselves a focus of controversy and even a force of political as well as social change.^[1]

Nabokov said that throughout 1800, the government by Russian Tsars Nicholas I and II, "remained aware that anything outstanding and original in the way of creative thought was a jarring note and a stride toward Revolution."^[2]

A widespread observation is that a great talent has a free spirit.^{[citation needed]} For instance Pushkin, who some scholars regard as Russia's first great writer,^[2] attracted the mad irritation of the Russian officialdom and particularly of the Tsar, since he "instead of being a good servant of the state in the rank and file of the administration and extolling conventional virtues in his vocational writings (if write he must), composed extremely arrogant and extremely independent and extremely wicked verse in which a dangerous freedom of thought was evident in the novelty of his versification, in the audacity of his sensual fancy, and in his propensity for making fun of major and minor tyrants."^[2]

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A Question Arises. "who will be the next PM of INDIA" Answer This Question. CAREFULLY.....

I want to ask a question from People who they want to become the next PM of INDIA.

ANSWER It carefully.

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Rahul’s outburst: A watershed moment in Indian politics?

Barely two days before his outburst against the UPA government’s ordinance to counter a Supreme Court order disqualifying MPs and MLAs convicted in a criminal case, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi‘s body language had become a talking point among Pune’s editors and senior journalists. Rather unusually, Gandhi had held a 90-minutue long informal exchange with a select group of journalists at the Balewadi stadium in Pune. This was the second leg of his Maharashtra tour and Gandhi took everyone by surprise, especially the top editors in Delhi, who later came to know that he had spoken extensively and informally on a range of subjects. The issue of the controversial ordinance came up during that chat with journalists and Mr Clean’s cryptic response amply indicated that he disagreed with the government’s position. On hindsight, it was disappointing that none of the assembled journalists asked him about his brother-in-law Robert Vadra‘s controversial land deals in Haryana, especially as Gandhi seemed to be in a mood to talk.

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Delhi Elections: Muslims say no to Modi and BJP

Atif Rasheed, president of Delhi BJP’s minority cell has a tough job at hand. His party’s top leadership has asked him to ensure that at least 20,000 Muslims attend Narendra Modi‘s public rally scheduled for Sunday, 29 September, at the Japanese Park in West Delhi’s Rohini area. As part of Narendra Modi‘s image makeover, the BJP hopes that a significant presence of the minority community at his rallies will signal a kinder, gentler saffron party. But the more immediate task at hand is the upcoming Delhi elections. With Muslims forming 11 percent of electoral population in the national capital, any party eyeing the Delhi assembly, cannot ignore the community in the run-up to the November 2013 election. Muslims can influence election results in around eight of 70 assembly seats in Delhi. Muslims comprise 35-40 percent of the electorate in three seats in central Delhi and five in East Delhi.

Last Sunday, the Congress party conducted Dalit Muslim Mahasammelan where it listed its contribution for the welfare of the community. The latest entrant into Delhi politics, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is courting the Muslim vote by criticising the Congress for implicating its youth in false terror cases. The BJP has fewer cards to play. The party is downplaying the community’s animosity towards Modi and is instead focusing on how the Congress has cheated the Muslim community even while talking secularism. “This time, Muslims have decided to teach a lesson to the Congress even if it means extending support to Narendra Modi,” says Rasheed. But conversations with Muslim voters in Delhi indicate that Rasheed’s optimism maybe misplaced. “It is not about good or bad. It is about lack of alternatives,” says Mohammad Aasim, electronics and communications engineer from Ballimaran area which is the Muslim heartland in central Delhi and the constituency of Congress leader and state food & civil supplies minister Haroon Yusuf. Aasim points out that the situation is not too bad under the current MLA regarding basic amenities. But there is no movement for the citizens here in terms of social mobility, he says, “People are so entangled in basic facilities that they cannot think beyond them. An ambulance or fire brigade cannot enter this area due to heavy traffic which is the result of small industrial units. But despite numerous accidents, nothing changed. Anything beyond bijli, sadak, paani is a non- issue here,” he says. Aasim will consider voting for the AAP, but a vote for the BJP, he says, is “out of question.” The voter refrain in other assembly constituencies in Delhi where Muslims call the shots is the same- even if you are disgruntled with the Congress, vote for it to keep the BJP at bay. Exceptions to this trend are the assembly seats where political leaders matters more than the party. Matia Mahal seat in the walled city is the stronghold of Lok Janshakti Party MLA Shoib Iaqbal. Iqbal won last three consecutive assembly elections, every time contesting from a different party. “He is a party in himself,” says Tayab Mirza, who runs one of the oldest printing press units in the area. While the MLA is said to have allegiance with the builder mafia, it is not a concern for the inhabitants of the area who are happy with Iqbal as he gets their work done. Elsewhere in Okhla, where the residents were unhappy with Congress’ stand on Batla House encounter, the party is trying to win back their trust. Asif Mohammad, the sitting MLA from RJD and one of the most vocal critics of the Congress, recently joined the Congress. While many Okhla residents are surprised by his move, it may work in Congress’s favour in case the party fields Asif as its candidate in the upcoming elections. “He has always won on emotional plank. Currently, people are upset with him, but you never know. He might come up with something new right before election day,” says Ashraf Khan, who runs a tea stall in the area. The Congress was not a popular choice amongst Delhi’s Muslims until the 1998 assembly polls, when 53 percent Muslims voted for the Congress. Its vote share rose 68 percent during the 2003 polls. However, the party lost five percent vote share of Muslims in latest assembly polls held in 2008, as a sizable chunk of the community voted for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) instead. The BSP ranked third in six assembly seats with predominant Muslim population. In East Delhi, the Muslim vote was split among independent candidates and regional parties such as the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. Migrants, especially families from Western Uttar Pradesh, form the vote share of the BSP and the SP in Delhi. But experts say that this time, due to recent riots in Uttar Pradesh’s Muzzafarnagar district, these votes will come back to the Congress party’s fold. “The BSP was in power in UP during 2008 Delhi assembly elections. Its vote share in Delhi reached 14 percent. This time, the SP is in power in UP and it was expecting similar gains in Delhi. But the party is now on a back foot because of Muzaffarnagar episode,” says Navaid Hamid, Muslims rights activist and member of the National Integration Council. “This is how the Congress will indirectly gain from the riots,” he adds. So which way will Delhi’s Muslims sway? Should the Congress be worried this time? “Status quo will continue,” says Manisha Priyam, political analyst. “While the Congress has done nothing special for Muslims in Delhi, their situation is not very bad either. There is nothing going significantly wrong for the Congress which will cost it the Muslim vote.”

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Poverty Alleviation needs to be top priority: PM Manmohan Singh

With over a billion people living in abject poverty globally, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday emphasised the need for "inclusive growth" and said poverty alleviation should be a top priority for the international community.

"The problems of over a billion people living in abject poverty around the world need to be attacked more directly," Singh said in his address to the UN General Assembly.

Poverty remains a major political and economic challenge and its eradication requires special attention and a new thrust, he said.

"This priority should anchor the post-2015 Development Agenda, which should be shaped by the member states so that it enjoys the broadest possible support and acceptance," Singh told the international leaders at the UN headquarters in New York.

He said the issues of peace, security, human rights and governance are important and need to be addressed.

"But we will fall short of realising an ambitious post- 2015 development agenda if we focus merely on governance issues at the cost of robust economic growth," he noted.

"This agenda should not be merely about reprioritising domestic spending, but also about fostering genuine international partnership between the developing and developed countries to bring about change," he said.

Stressing that countries need the policy space necessary to set their own domestic priorities, Singh said no one knows the condition of developing countries better than the developing countries themselves.

"It is, therefore, important that the UN set clear and concise goals and provide practical and well-defined means of implementation, including adequate flow of resources and transfer of technology, taking the views of developing countries fully into account," Singh said.

The Prime Minister said a meaningful post-2015 agenda must place equally high priority on food and nutrition, health, education, infrastructure, water, sanitation, energy and discrimination against women.

"Especially critical is women's equal access to economic opportunities, and that they do not become victims of violence or targets of prejudice," he said.

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The Race to Be India’s Next Prime Minister Is Narendra modi

Election season took off in India today, as television cameras tracked the vehicle of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi from the New Delhi airport to a board meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the capital. By evening, the long-anticipated deed was done: The divisive and charismatic Modi had been chosen by the nation’s main opposition party as their official prime ministerial candidate. Despite fierce objections within the BJP’s upper ranks, party president Rajnath Singh named the chief minister of the western Indian state to helm the party’s push toward national elections scheduled next year— and kicked the ball squarely into the ruling Congress Party’s court.

In some ways, this wasn’t the biggest news of the day in India. In the hours leading up to the announcement, the long-awaited verdict came down in the infamous Delhi rape case, with all four men found guilty sentenced to death.

India’s Twittersphere exploded with a spasm of angst over violence against women and capital punishment in India, where the death penalty is reserved for the “rarest of the rare” cases.

A few short years ago, Modi’s ascension to the top political circles in the world’s largest democracy would have caused its own social media furor. The ambitious politician, though never convicted, has never been able to shake allegations that he failed to intervene in anti-Muslim riots that erupted in Gujarat on his watch in 2002. As many as 1000 Muslims were killed in days of violence that gripped the state, and for several years after, critics who blamed Modi for inflaming the rioters felt reasonably assured that he could never be considered a viable candidate for prime minister in a nation where over 13% of the population is Muslim. In 2005, he was denied a visa to the U.S., and he has has not visited the country since.

But at home, as the skilled politician built up accolades for the efficient management and relative prosperity of Gujarat, voters have kept him in power, and BJP leaders have embraced him as the best chance for the party in 2014. Many Modi detractors have watched in disbelief as support for him has risen; in one recent poll, he was preferred as the next leader of the nation over Congress political scion Rahul Gandhi, with 19% of respondents saying they would choose Modi as PM and only 12% saying the same for Gandhi.

How Modi’s divisive persona will play out amongst voters over the next year is far from clear. Internally, Modi’s top-down leadership style has come under scrutiny as a potential liability in India’s often-fragile coalition politics. ‘NaMo’ has also created a rift in his own party. Veteran BJP operator L.K. Advani, who reportedly harbors his own prime ministerial ambitions, has refused to give his consent to his junior’s promotion, raising objections that the controversy surrounding the candidate will draw votes away from the party in key states. In a show of protest, Advani did not attend the meeting in Delhi on Friday. “I promise that in the 2014 election, the BJP will emerge victorious,” Modi told reporters after the meeting. “The party will work hard and we will leave no stone unturned.”

If Modi does hurt the BJP as the chosen frontrunner, the party may squander an opportunity handed to them by an embattled Congress-led government. In a July poll conducted by CNN-IBN-The Hindu, only 38% of India’s urbanites were satisfied with the government’s performance, down from 49% in 2011. A loss of confidence in India’s economic miracle and the stench of scandal that has clung to the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition in its second term has opened the door wide for the opposition to make its case to voters in the world’s largest democracy that it’s time for a changing of the guard.

The Congress Party has been trying to shore up support, taking a series of decisive steps to get the economy back on track and successfully pushing through new laws that will appeal to its own vote base, including bills that provide more food support to poor families and firmly support farmers’ land rights against big development.

But with Modi front and center, the party will need to do much more — including anoint its own frontrunner to explain to 1.2 billion Indians why Congress is still the right choice for the country. Rahul Gandhi, the son of Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi, is in a natural position to take on the job. But he has not shown any particular zeal for the role, and it is unclear when and if he will ever willingly step forward. One thing is certain: If Congress doesn’t find somebody for the job soon, they risk letting the next few months shape up to be a one-man race.

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Politics in India

Politics in India (Hindi:भारतीय राजनीति) takes place within the framework of a federal Westminster-style Parliamentary democratic constitutional republic, in which the President of India is head of state and the Prime Minister of India is the head of government. Nominally executive power is exercised by the President and is independent of the legislature. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of the Parliament of India, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. Federal and state elections generally take place within a multi-party system, although this is not enshrined in law. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature, the highest national court being the Supreme Court of India. India is the world's largest democracy in terms of citizenry.

India is as a nation has been labelled as a "sovereign socialist secular democratic republic". Like the United States, India has had a federal form of government since it adopted its constitution. However, the central government in India has greater power in relation to its states, and its central government is patterned after the British parliamentary system. The central government has the power to dismiss state governments under specific constitutional clauses or in case no majority party or coalition is able to form a government. The central government can also impose direct federal rule known as president's rule (or central rule). Locally, the Panchayati Raj system has several administrative functions and authorities.

For most of the years since independence, the federal government has been led by the Indian National Congress (INC).^[1] The two largest political parties have been the INC and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Although the two parties have dominated Indian politics, regional parties also exist. From 1950 to 1990, barring two brief periods, the INC enjoyed a parliamentary majority. The INC was out of power between 1977 and 1980, when the Janata Party won the election due to public discontent with the promulgation of emergency by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1975. In 1989, a Janata Dal-led National Front coalition, in alliance with the Left Front coalition, won the elections but managed to stay in power for only two years.^[2]

As the 1991 elections gave no political party a majority, the INC formed a minority government under Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao and was able to complete its five-year term.^[3] The years 1996–1998 were a period of turmoil in the federal government with several short-lived alliances holding sway. The BJP formed a government briefly in 1996, followed by the United Front coalition that excluded both the BJP and the INC. In 1998, the BJP formed the National Democratic Alliance(NDA) with several other parties and became the first non-Congress government to complete a full five-year term.^[4] In the 2004 elections, the INC won the largest number of Lok Sabha seats and formed a government with a coalition called the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), supported by various parties.^[5] In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the INC won with a majority of more than 200 seats and formed the government by creating a coalition with other parties which were willing to form alliance with it.

Indian democracy has been suspended once.^[6] Nevertheless, Indian politics is often described as chaotic. More than a fifth of parliament members face some criminal charges and around 40 of them are accused with serious criminal charges.^[6]

He  is The FAther of GOVERNMENT

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What is politics? A big Question Arises

Politics  is the practice and theory of influencing other people on a civic or individual level. More narrowly, it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance — organized control over a human community, particularly a state. A variety of methods is employed in politics, which include promoting its own political views among people, negotiation with other political subjects, making laws, and exercising force, including warfare against adversaries. Politics is exercised on a wide range of social levels, from clans and tribes of traditional societies, through modern local governments, companies and institutions up to sovereign states, to international level.

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Occupation/Profession is often linked to a strong bias in terms of political views. For instance, here in Australia, two basically true stereotypes are that teachers are left-wing and those in the military and police are right-wing.

What in your opinions are other occupations where there is a strong skew towards left or right? Just asking as I was discussing this with some friends. 

Also am particularly interested if in these occupations have changed over time. For instance, at least here in Australia, to my knowledge, up until the 1960's and even the 1970's teachers were far more evenly balanced, but afterwards became heavily left-wing.

Also how much of this bias is due to 'rational self-interest', ie voting for a party which will provide lots of funding to your profession (ie right-wing parties will generally fund the military more) and how much instead reflects the broader worldview which tends to be present in the profession?

I'm sure there would be lots of research on this, but just thought it's be interesting to ask.

Another interesting theory I have heard which is a good predictor of occupation/political views link, is Status-Income Disequilibrium; this means when the status accorded to any occupation is either disproroportionately low or high, compared to the income earned.

There are some occupations where Status is higher than Income; examples would include teachers, journalists and academics. These occupations tend to be the most strongly left-wing.

OTOH, there are some occupations where Status is lower than Income:examples would include tradespeople and small-business owners. These occupations tend to be the most strongly right-wing.

Would you agree that this observation is correct.

As this is a study/education themed website, people might also like to comment on their observation on the link between degree choice and political views (which of course later leads to the occupational difference).

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