The editorial in the latest issue of Organiser talks about Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh’s ‘machinations’. Titled, ‘Arjun makes it difficult for Congress again’, the editorial observes, “Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh has deliberately set the cat among the pigeons when he raised the UPA leadership issue at a time when the general elections are more than a year away. He has done it earlier too. But this time, his message is that under Dr Manmohan Singh, the party is doomed. This has also brought the succession war in the UPA to the fore.”

The edit assumes that Singh’s observations have the “family’s approval”. It says, “Arjun Singh is a compulsive sycophant in the old Congress mould. In fact, that is the sole raison d’etre for his position in the Union Cabinet. So it is not easy to believe that he said anything that the family did not approve of. But for the Congress to thrust its nominee on the ruling conglomerate — a grouping of desperate, self-seeking politicians, who themselves for decades have been nursing personal and dynastic ambitions — is a difficult task.”

It goes on to argue that the Congress is already “on the lookout for a replacement for Dr Manmohan Singh” and that “in the next round, the family will not be looking outside for the captain”. It concludes, “The Congress will finally make a choice between Sonia, Priyanka and Rahul, all within the family.”

UPA’s crocodile tears

In his column, ‘UPA helping EU and China beat India’, M.D. Nalapat says that “the UPA has become the primary engine of inflation and unemployment because of its regressive policies”. He writes, “By the end of this month, following the pro-EU, pro-China cue of ‘Madam’, RBI Governor Yaga Reddy is expected to further deprive large numbers of Indians of bank credit — by choking liquidity and raising interest rates. This will ensure that economic growth in the corporate sector slows and Indian industry becomes globally uncompetitive... Rather than damp the fever of inflation, almost every week, Sonia Maino Gandhi sheds crocodile tears about inflation, thus feeding the expectation that prices will go up still more — thereby promoting hoarding and speculation in essentials, metals and other key items...”

He takes a dig at the CPI and CPM and concludes, “The shameless way in which certain known business entities, aided by their UPA accomplices, are pushing up prices by speculative hoarding is well known to the agencies of government, yet no action is being taken.”

Country first

A report on the release of a special issue of Swadesh on Guru Golwalkar highlights BJP leader L.K. Advani’s speech on the occasion. In his speech, Advani said, “Shri Guruji never advocated a theocratic state. The second Sarsanghachalak of the Sangh, Shri Guruji Golwalkar, was like a Rashtrarishi... The basic force behind the concept of Integral Humanism propounded by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was the core thinking of Shri Guruji... Swami Vivekananda had appealed to the countrymen in 1897 to forget all other gods and goddesses and worship only one goddess — Bharatmata. Shri Guruji had this view in his mind when he resolved to work with Dr Hedgewar for Bharatmata,” said Advani on the occasion.

Numero uno Modi?

A news item headlined, ‘Narendra Modi: The most popular politician’ sounds like a nationwide survey or an opinion piece. The item is, however, about one Sahil Thakkar — “a user of Yahoo who displayed a poll related question on a Yahoo website” on April 2, 2008. The question was, “Who is the most popular politician in India? (1) Sonia Gandhi (2) Lalu Prasad Yadav (3) Narendra Modi”.

The piece, without any credit line, then informs us: “As many as 15,525 Yahoo users cast their votes. The voters chose Narendra Modi as the most popular politician in India with 7,499 votes (48 per cent of the total). While Lalu Prasad Yadav secured 4,817 votes (31 per cent) and Sonia Gandhi with 3,209 votes (21 per cent) stood third in the contest — the result for which was declared on April 3, 2008. The Yahoo website conducts such polls on different subjects on a daily basis”.