Parties wait for polls,leaders for reports

Telangana breakpoint

After the submission of the Srikrishna Committee report,the UPA government is not left with many options to delay a decision on statehood. If the government decides to grant statehood,it may open a Pandoras box with similar demands from many regions. Denial of statehood,on the other hand,could mean a fresh spurt of violence in the region.

Last years scams

Investigations into 2010s scams are set to culminate in reports in 2011; these will affect the fate of many politicians. The report of the V K Shunglu panel probing Commonwealth Games projects,for one,will be awaited anxiously by CWG Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi,and ministers like MS Gill and Jaipal Reddy; the result of investigations into the 2G spectrum allocation could decide former Telecom Minister A Rajas political future; the CBI and Army court of inquiry reports into the Adarsh housing scam in Mumbai are expected to establish if Union Ministers and former CMs Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushilkumar Shinde had any role.

Environment vs Development

As Navi Mumbai showed,there are limits to stretching the environment argument. This year,Jairam Ramesh will be immediately faced with the problem of resolving POSCOs case in Orissa. The levels of compliance he has been demanding from POSCO or Vedanta are unlikely to apply to the hundreds of other projects all over the country,because they cannot be monitored. That could open him up to charges of favouritism. On climate,India faces a uphill task: after all the concessions made,it will be interesting to see how the country holds up against pressure to give a legally binding shape to its offers to contribute to global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

J&K again

The group of interlocutors will submit its final proposal laying down the broad contours of a political settlement of the Kashmir issue. Given the controversies the panel headed by Dileep Padgaonkar has triggered already,its final report is set to spark another such round either way. The panels members have already indicated their line of thought and drawn the ire of the BJP.

Caste census

With caste enumeration slated during June-September,the government will have to ready itself for a variety of demands from the champions of social justice. There has also been a proposal from the Rural Development Ministry to use the services of caste enumerators to conduct a BPL census to update the existing records ahead of rolling out a food security legislation. The Home Ministry,however,is wary of this.

Womens Reservation

Union Home Minister P Chidambaram has set the agenda for the government: pass the Womens Reservation Bill before 2011 is out. Political consensus still eludes the Bill,passed in Rajya Sabha last March,but the government is still likely to push for its passage.

Revamp all round

With youth the buzzword last year,an organisational revamp in the Congress and a Cabinet reshuffle,expected in January,should see the emergence of new faces. The Prime Minister has indicated he would like to reduce the average age of his Cabinet; Congress general secretary Digvijay aSingh has echoed a similar objective for the party,suggesting veteran leaders would now give way to Gen Next. The pool of talent available is,however,limited.

B S Yeddyurappa

B S Yeddyurappa would have begun the year with a lot of worries. The Karnataka CM won himself a breather with presure tactics but his future remains uncertain with his name linked to a land scam. He has rubbed the central leadership the wrong way and the perception is that it is waiting to put him in his place. A good performance in the local body polls could bail him out,though Governor H R Bhardwaj could still give him a headache.

(Inputs by D K Singh,Manoj CG,Ravish Tiwari and Amitabh Sinha)