OPINION

Facing the wrath of anti-incumbency against the Congress government at the Centre, which was embroiled in several cases of corruption, in 2013 then Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit was looking for a panacea to overcome adversities and come to power for the fourth time in the row. The development agenda of Dikshit had brought her back to power in 2003 and 2008.

A visionary leader that she was, she planned an overhaul of the city during the Commonwealth Games 2010 and had believed that the fresh wave of development would see her getting another term from the people. However, her development drive was drowned in the cacophony let loose by the Anna Hazare movement, whose product is the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Then Congress member of Lok Sabha from West Delhi, Mahabal Mishra had warned Dikshit about an impending defeat and had suggested to her that she could gamble by giving a large chunk of tickets to the party workers from Purvanchal (east UP and Bihar). Dikshit, who was never comfortable with Mishra, saw it as a subterfuge on the part of the Purvanchali leader to create a claim for himself as rival to her.

The Chhath Puja, which used to be the festival of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand till recently, has off late taken over other festivities in national capital Delhi, in terms of the sheer number of participations, fervor, and enthusiasm. The mounting grandeur of the festival symbolizes the rising power exercised by the sizeable Purvanchali community – migrants from UP and Bihar in the city’s political and social landscape.

Delhi’s traditional inhabitants Punjabi Khatris, Jats and Gujjars (living mostly in urban villages) may still claim influence in the city’s politics, but over the past two decades, the lever has shifted to Purvanchali community, who have now a sway in over 30 assembly segments. Inhabiting in hundreds of unauthorized colonies, they can tilt the electoral balance.

The Purvanchalis comprising national capital workforce such as laborers, hawkers and rickshaw pullers alone, makes up roughly one-third of Delhi’s voter population.  Political leaders from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress are flocking to their localities to woo them.

Democracy is not a mere word nor a matter of convenience. It is a system that is based on certain values, certain ethos. The element of democracy is the empowerment of people through giving them a right to political choice. This itself is facilitated by arguments and counter arguments on matters of economy, governance, foreign policy, defence and the conditions of wellbeing of the society put by different political contenders and contestants for getting peoples’ mandate to govern through elections held at intervals of time.

This opportunity of political choice is made easier when different political parties place their manifestoes before the electorate, exemplifying the future roadmap of policy and governance. The verdict of the electorate is taken as a mandate to the majority party or coalition to keep its promise with the people mentioned in the manifesto. The opposition is naturally expected to point out the failures on the part of the ruling party to implement their promises made at the time of election held.

The government is under obligation to govern according to the agenda it got mandate for. Opposition has a right to oppose policies of the government if they are against what it said at the elections. The government can take policy decisions even on matters not finding a place in its manifesto if it is considered of national interest or what can be said to be in the interest of the wellbeing of the people at large.

One of the challenges faced in higher education today is the student-teacher engagement. It is an important element in our teaching-learning system. When the society is growing multidimensionally, it faces multifaceted challenges and issues especially with younger generations today. In wake of technology advancement and shifting horizons of knowledge the teachers need to be equipped with multi-pronged skills, tools and approaches. There are various aspects to the whole issue and can be understood in a much wider appeal and perception.  “The pivot in education is the teacher… if the teacher improves, the education system will improve” says Anil Swarup, secretary, HRD Ministry, GOI. (Source: The TOI, April,13 2018)

For those planning a holiday during the winters in the scenic Andamans, the gateway for them would be through the Veer Savarkar airport. One of the must destinations in the island is Cellular Jail, where the freedom fighters were incarcerated after being transported for life by the colonial government.

A very well-researched light and sound show at the gaol complex, where Savarkar was jailed twice, tells the Savarkar story in detail. A nation which recognized him as a freedom fighter, issued a stamp in his memory and named an airport after him is suddenly debating his antecedents.

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has done little service to the nation at large and to his cause in his ideological battle against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by belittling contribution of the legendary freedom fighter. Gandhi at a rally last week in Delhi had said that he was no Savarkar to apologize to the government for his political stand.

The debate on Savarkar in the past few months has been more entrenched in the effort of creating likes on the social media or TRPs on the creativity starved television news channels than any serious historical discussion. The whole debate on Savarkar’s contribution unfortunately has got embroiled in a comparison with the Congress leaders.