If Jaganmohan Reddy wins the Kadapa by-election, he may be able to destabilise the Congress state government in Andhra Pradesh. This may also have implications for the UPA government at the Centre, says T V R Shenoy.
Politically, the north and south are different planets, says T V R Shenoy.
'Kerala may have the worst physical infrastructure -- potholed roads to overflowing drains -- of the four major southern states, but does anybody care? Given all this you may think Kerala's voters lack any options come Election Day. That would be a mistake.'
'There are indications of two streams of money flooding the coffers of Kalaignar TV. The first was from DB Realty. The second, which is not yet publicly disclosed, allegedly involves a sum of Rs 50 crore from another participant in the purchase of 2G spectrum. Investigators are also looking at a seeming clue thrown up by the famous Radia Tapes.'
'Between 2000 and 2004 there were six recommendations to start proceedings against P J Thomas. After 2004 not only was there no such recommendation, but all mention of the Palmolein Case was wiped off Thomas's bio-data. There seems to have been a deliberate attempt to clear Thomas's record starting in 2004. The Manmohan Singh ministry took office in 2004. Draw your own inferences.'
'Will Sonia Gandhi use the argument of retaining power in Delhi to over-ride her party's chances in Tamil Nadu, corruption be damned?' asks T V R Shenoy.
BSNL shall be bankrupt by the end of 2011, Indian Railways is bleeding; Air India has run up a total debt of Rs 40,000 crore. T V R Shenoy on the figures that tell the government's story.
The Constitution lays out a laborious process for removing a judge, deliberately so because it must never be done on a political whim. History shows that no Supreme Court or high court judge has ever lost office in such fashion. The best defence against judicial misbehaviour, to use the American term, is 'peer pressure.'
'The CBI suspects A Raja of favouring Swan Telecom, a wing of DB Realty. A chain of firms connected to DB Realty transferred over Rs 200 crore to a television network connected to M Karunanidhi's immediate family....'
If the UPA or the Opposition wants the CVC out it must use due process of law, not insult and innuendo. Prosecute him if he is guilty, praise him if he is innocent, but at all costs respect the office that he holds, says T V R Shenoy.
'This is how it works in Delhi. Step One: Wait for a shortage to develop. Step Two: Run around squawking until the deafest trader on the global markets has had the message drummed into his ears. Step Three: Engage in panic buying from abroad at suitably inflated prices.'
'Is it too much when senior -- very senior --politicians fear the law so little that they accept payment through cheques, something that can be easily traced?'
'Is there any truth to the rumour that the Income Tax authorities have traced a money trail to a senior politician down in South India?'
'Nobody denies the culpability of many bureaucrats and businessmen in the shrinking of our moral universe but at the end of the day it is the politicians who set the standard,' says T V R Shenoy.
Since Dr Singh did not explicitly tell A Raja to stop, the minister sped down his chosen road, says T V R Shenoy.
The Adarsh scam is potentially the more dangerous than the Commonwealth Games mess since it points to corruption in the armed forces. As a man whose personal integrity is beyond reproach, the defence minister must step in and stem the rot, says T V R Shenoy.
'Ashok Chavan and Omar Abdullah owe the office in large part to Rahul Gandhi and that places a large question mark over the judgment of that Gen Next leader.'
'It is an open secret that the mining lobby wields immense clout both in Karnataka and in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. It is no surprise that millions of tons vanished without a trace. (As did thousands of crores of rupees in lost revenue.) But it should be a cause for worry when the power of the mining lobby seemingly leads to the disappearance of honest officials.'
Nitish Kumar made his reputation by focusing on development. Why is it that even he has to follow the hollow rhetoric of 'communal' and 'secular' when the time comes to woo voters?'
'Arjun Singh was chief minister of Madhya Pradesh back in 1984. He is still on Indian soil, and, presumably, available for questioning.'
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