Unfazed Cong needles Maya
Pioneer News Service, The Pioneer
January 11, 2008

Unfazed by BSP supremo Mayawati's open threat to withdraw support, the Congress has again accused her of misgovernance and demanded a separate State for drought-hit Bundelkhand carved out of Uttar Pradesh.

Blaming Mayawati's "misrule" for the drought and deteriorating condition of the region, the Congress made the demand before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday morning.

A Congress delegation, comprising All-India Congress Committee general secretary Digvijay Singh, Pradesh Congress Committee chief Rita Bahuguna-Joshi and other UP leaders met the Prime Minister and urged him to constitute the Second States Reorganisation Commission for the purpose.

Though Mayawati had issued an open threat to withdraw support from the UPA Government, the Congress seems unaffected.

Mayawati's forays in different States and the dent that she is making in Congress' traditional vote-bank seem to have irked the Congress. The party is now determined to take the BSP threat head on and almost dare Mayawati to withdraw support. Incidentally, Bundelkhand is an area where 37% of the population is Scheduled Castes, who constitute Mayawati's core vote-bank.

There is an increasing opinion in the party that the Congress would have to take Mayawati's challenge and call her bluff. The Chief Minister's request for SPG cover seems to have tickled the funny bone of the Congress. The party has always skirted the issue and said it is a matter of procedure and rules. Joshi said, "The Chief Minister says she faces threat from Congress. The Chief Secretary says there is a threat to Uttar Pradesh from militants. So who is safe in UP? Despite having such a huge police force?"

Be it SPG cover or Bundelkhand, the Congress seems to be talking tough now. Speaking to mediapersons after the meeting, Joshi said, "We told the Prime Minister that if the State Government cannot look after Bundelkhand and if the people want, then a separate State should be created."

Joshi sought a special package for Bundelkhand on the pattern of Vidarbha package for farmers. Congress memorandum specified waiving of loans to farmers, giving fresh three-year interest free loans, watershed management programmes, completion of 17 incomplete irrigation programmes and implementation of National Rural Employment Guarantee (NREG) Scheme.

The Prime Minister assured the Congress delegation that a package would be worked out. He deputed a Planning Commission member to study the package for Bundelkhand. A team of officials would also visit Bundelkhand next week.

Joshi said: "The Prime Minister was very concerned that benefits of Central schemes are not trickling down to the grassroots." Joshi said that all seven districts of Bundelkhand come under NREG scheme. "The scheme has not been implemented. About 200 mandays of work should have been provided. Less than 2 per cent of the people with job cards have been provided 100 days of employment. In Banda area, this figure is 0.23 per cent."

Citing several examples of "misgovernance", Joshi alleged that one crore saplings had been planted in each of the seven Bundelkhand districts despite the region not receiving any rainfall for the last five years.

The party has sought intervention of AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi in the issue. The heir-apparent would address a rally on the issues facing the region, including those pertaining to farmers, in Jhansi on January 17. In a scathing attack on the Mayawati-run dispensation for allegedly failing to take steps to help the farmers, Joshi alleged that as many as 204 farmers have committed suicide since the BSP came to power. As many as 2,000 farmers have taken the extreme step in the last two years.

The demand for formation of a second SRC and a separate State of Bundelkhand comes at a time when there are mixed signals on setting up of such a commission and the Left parties which are against carving out a separate Telengana State from Andhra Pradesh have been stoutly opposing any such move.