Pyrrhic victory for RCTV generation!
US intelligence networks score a few Brownie points in Venezuela

Last week, as thousands of student protesters marched against Hugo Chavéz's decision to close a popular television channel in Venezuela (The government refused to renew the license of RCTV for “infringing on democratic norms”– forcing the channel off the air from 27 May onwards), Bush had a sly smile on his face. And the Western media too was happy to see the first signs of a protest movement building up against Bush’s bete noire Chavéz.

Distinguishing the current wave of agitations from the pervious ones, the Western press has described the protestors as “new generation of Venezuela.” However, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Nicolas Maduro, maintains that these "students of the Venezuelan upper-class are being used by opposition parties and media moguls." The student protesters claim that they are maintaining a distance from established opposition parties, lest their movement gets loaded with political overtones. But Chavéz, in his usual style, has unequivocally said that these students are “victims of manipulation, representing the interests of US imperialism.” No one is denying the students' right to protest to preserve the 'freedom of speech'." But what raises hackles about the whole drama is the class composition of the students and the trivial cause they are fighting for.

It is well known that the US intelligence agencies have been looking for a window opportunity to pierce the citadel erected by Chavéz. And the upper caste students have provided them with the necessary fodder. That these agencies have repeatedly failed to penetrate Chavéz’s stronghold, bears testimony to the fact that Hugo has a strong mass base among the Venezuelan poor.

Lonely at the top!
Freedom continues to elude Pakis

(column by Saurabh K. Shahi)

It seems as if President Musharraf is fast losing friends. The manner in which, his so-called friends are leaving him one by one, leaves nothing to imagination. It is rumoured in the Islamabad political circles that President Musharraf might put Benazir Bhutto off the hook in lieu of her conditional support to his government, but as things stand today, Benazir has vehemently refuted any such deal. Meanwhile, the pressure on Musharraf is increasing day by day. The support for ousted Chief Justice, Iftekhar Chaudhary has swelled, leaving Musharraf worried. This was evident in the recently held rally by Chaudhary that was made out of bound for the media. Reports suggest that more than 50,000 people attended the rally even though the state machinery worked over time to stop them.

But the question arises; has Musharraf been left all alone? The answer is a big 'NO'. The largest political group Musharraf counts on is Muttahida Qaumi Movement, or MQM. The group, headed by its absconding leader, Md. Altaf Hussain, has time and again demonstrated its support for Musharraf and that too in a way they do the best; by burning cars and ransacking offices. Apart from that, there is a sizable chunk of the Pakistani intellectual class that approves of the tactics of Musharraf and the way of his governance. A Senior Analyst from the Associated Press in Pakistan, Rashid Ali Khan, tells B&E, “No one can deny the fact that Pakistan grew tremendously during the rule of Musharraf, both on the economic as well as strategic front. What happened in Karachi was unfortunate but that does not belittle the stature of Pervez Musharraf.”

It is now certain that Musharraf is in deep trouble. He is gagging the press and jailing the opponents to protect his falling empire. All that one can hope is that both democracy and sanity returns to Pakistan soon.

(End of Saurabh K. Shahi column)

Flamboyant Queen of Castes
Juggling with controversies is her forte, but dealing with contradictions is certainly not her strength

The flowing mane of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje (fondly called Vasu by friends) symbolizes her inherent traits – unbound and free-fl owing. Even in the face of the worst crisis of her life – the violent Gujjar agitation – Raje was unwavering. Whether it was her controversial lip-lock with Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar Shaw or the hackles raised about her catwalk (as Union Minister of State for Small Scale Industries) at a Bangalore fashion show to promote Khadi, Raje has always faced challenges with a dauntless front.

Be it her marriage or separation, personal life or political career, she has always been as far away from controversies as her own shadow. She holds a unique distinction of being a Maratha Rajput by birth and a Jat by marriage, who married her son in Gujjar community. If these factors contributed in lobbying all these influential communities behind her in 2003 Assembly elections, leading to the biggest ever victory for BJP in Rajasthan, the slippery caste equations may prove to be her nemesis as well. She was again in the center of storm last month after one of her supporter-MLAs depicted her as Goddess Annapurna in a calendar widely distributed in the state. An FIR was registered against her and the MLA – not by an opposition Congress leader but by the wife of BJP stalwart, Jaswant Singh, (leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha.) “I am not answerable for acts of somebody else, not even of my wife, who exercises her franchise and applies her own mind,” reasoned Singh. But the act betrays a sense of discontent against Vasundhara’s “sycophantic” leadership.

Her followers, however, claim that she never wears her blue blood on her sleeves & mixes with commoners with as much ease as she does with the elite in a Page 3 party. Fourth child of the Gwalior dynasty in Madhya Pradesh – Maharaj Jiwaji Rao Scindia and Vijaya Raje Scindia – Vasundhara studied at Presentation Convent in Kodaikanal and graduated from Mumbai’s Sofia College in Economics and Political Science. She was married to Hemant Singh, the scion of erstwhile Dhaulpur royalty in Rajasthan, at the age of 19. Within a year, she gave birth to Dushyant and separated from her husband citing “incompatibility”. Yet, she did not leave Dhaulpur. Rather her husband Hemant shifted to Dhaulpur House in Delhi. Five years later, she fi led a case on behalf of her son demanding share in numerous properties of Dhaulpur dynasty spread across the country. After a 34-years litigation, they reached an out-of-court settlement only last month, with Hemant settling down only with Delhi bungalow and agreeing to part with almost everything else for his son. The pragmatic and overtly practical Vasu epitomizes the women of substance. A woman, who knows her onion well enough to compete in a man's world. “That shows Vasu’s fighting spirit,” says Suresh Kumar, who along with Pramod Mahajan managed her election campaign in 2003 when BJP’s tally touched an alltime high of 152 in a House of 200.

Having won five Parliamentary elections from Jhalawar, she also served in Vajpayee’s cabinet as Minister of State for External Affairs, Space & Atomic Energy & Personnel, till she resigned in 2003 to become the Chief Minister. She trounced Gujjar leader, Rama Pilot, from Jhalarpatan, despite significant presence of Gujjars in the area. She won over the Gujjar electorate by relating to them through her son’s marriage. “I am your daughter’s mother-in-law. If I come to power, I will grant you reservation in ST category,” she had promised. Hardly had she realised that she was playing with fire. Four years later, with flames of that fire leaping towards her throne, deep inside she might be cursing herself for making populist promises. Aft er all, controversies don’t come cheap!

Footsteps
1984: Member, National Executive, BJP
1985: Member, Rajasthan Legislative Assembly
1987: Vice President, BJP, Rajasthan
1989: Member, Lok Sabha
1998: Minister of State, External Affairs
1999: Minister of State for Small
Scale Industries, Atomic Energy, personnel
2003: Chief Minister, Rajasthan

Mumbo Jumbo for Congress in Goa
BJP loses yet another state assembly election; Congress celebrates

Lalu Prasad Yadav used to wait for the djinns to pop out of ballot boxes in Bihar. They did come out of electronic voting machines in Goa this time and surprised everybody, as much as they used to in Bihar. Doomsday prophets were proved wrong as Congress managed to retain its hold on power – though with slightly depleted strength - in the just concluded Assembly elections overcoming the anti-incumbency.

The Congress managed to win 16 seats-four less than its tally in the previous Assembly, but was helped by its ally Nationalist CongressParty (NCP) which managed to win three seats, in a house of 40. Former Chief Minister Pratap Singh Rane's son Viswajeet, who contested as a party rebel, lent a helping hand to Congress paving way for the party to come back to power once again. Maharashtra wadi Gomantak Party (MGP) having two MLAs and some independents too have promised support to Rane government.

The Congress, after having suffered a humbling defeat in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, might have heaved a sigh of relief but there was no succour for the BJP, which too met a similar fate in U.P. BJP's government was toppled through a series of defections last time. Relying heavily on its Chief Ministerial candidate Manohar Parikkar's clean image , BJP was hoping to return to power. But, its hopes of cashing in on the anti-Congress sentiments were dashed as it managed only 14 seats. "We didn't manage our campaign as smoothly as we should have", says party's election in charge Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Moreover, Churchill Alemao's 'Save Goa' campaign too affected our chances". A case of spilled milk!

The fire & fury of internal wars !
BJP & RSS point fingers at each other for UP debacle

Taking lessons from its defeat in the 2004 parliamentary elections (BJP had blamed its ideological ally, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for lack of support), the party chief Rajnath Singh enlisted the RSS support for elections in his home state of UP. The RSS too obliged by summoning its full-time workers called pracharaks from across the country and appointing them in each Assembly segment. The scheme bombed as the RSS workers from other states were out of sync with issues in Uttar Pradesh and had negligible coordination with local BJP workers. The BJP’s tally naturally plummeted to its all time low since 1989.

Failures have no fathers and thus started a blame game. In a newspaper article Rajnath Singh Surya, who was in charge of state BJP’s media cell during elections, blamed the RSS for mis-managing party’s election campaign. “The RSS took control of BJP’s election campaign and that spelled doom for the party”, he wrote. A former Rajya Sabha MP, Surya is known for his proximity to the BJP president Rajnath Singh and his views were construed as those of the party chief. State BJP spokesman Hriday Narain Dixit clarified to B&E, “It’s wrong to say that RSS is responsible for BJP’s defeat. We got full support from our ideological allies”.

BJP has distinction of being the only party which can run down its leaders. If it disowned LK Advani’s views on Jinnah two years ago, it’s the turn of Rajnath Singh this time. Is it a case of setting sun?