Monday, January 30, 2012

[ZESTCaste] Insight: India's "Dalit queen" faces polls

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-india-electiontre80p086-20120125,0,4509267.story

chicagotribune.com
Insight: India's "Dalit queen" faces polls

Frank Jack Daniel and John Chalmers

Reuters

9:29 AM CST, January 26, 2012

LUCKNOW, India (Reuters) - By her own standards, Kumari Mayawati's
birthday celebrations were low-key this year.

After driving through a red-carpeted tunnel of plaster elephant tusks
in an Ambassador, India's retro-looking national car, the chief
minister of India's largest state swept past a coterie of her party's
workers, who bowed and touched her feet.

Diamonds adorned the diminutive figure of "the Dalit Queen,"
encrusting her necklace, a bracelet, her earrings, a nose-ring and her
watch, as she accepted a few bouquets of flowers and marched about
briskly in the marigold-draped party headquarters.

But the huge crowds of gaping admirers were missing this year; there
was no garland of banknotes, no upper-caste Brahmin on hand to
symbolically pop a morsel of birthday cake into the mouth of an
"untouchable" who has risen from the bottom of India's social pile to
become one of the most powerful women in the world.

That's because election campaign rules are now in effect for staggered
polls to be held in February and March in Uttar Pradesh.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Graphic: Uttar Pradesh growth http://link.reuters.com/jef36s

SPECIAL REPORT: Gandhi dynasty http://r.reuters.com/rur93s

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Mayawati is far from a sure bet to win another term as chief minister
of the northern state whose population of 200 million would rank as
the fifth-most populous in the world if it were a country.

If she doesn't, it would be a blow to her undisguised ambition to one
day become prime minister of India, a goal that looked reasonable back
in 2007 when she won a huge mandate from the state's voters by
appealing to a rainbow of castes, which still define the
socio-economic status for many of India's 1.2 billion people.

Launching the seventh, gilt-edged volume of an autobiography that runs
to thousands of pages and is printed in Hindi and English, Mayawati
bemoaned Election Commission rules that obliged her to row back on her
usual birthday beneficence.

"Normally, my birthday is an occasion to give away thousands of crores
in welfare schemes for Dalits and other backward castes, but because
of the election code of conduct we could not do that this year," she
said. A crore is 10 million rupees, or $188,000.

Mayawati's nemesis in the election is Rahul Gandhi, scion of the
Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has ruled the country for most of its six
decades of independence. A relative greenhorn in the hurly-burly of
Indian politics, Gandhi has staked his future on the performance of
the venerable but troubled Congress party in Uttar Pradesh.

A TRADITION OF EXTRAVAGANCE

Although she presides over one of the most poverty-plagued states of
India -- its per-capita income is just above 50 percent of the
national average -- Mayawati's extraordinary personal extravagance
preserves a tradition set over the centuries by a succession of rulers
in the plains of the river Ganges.

In the five years since she took office, she has blanketed hundreds of
acres of prime real estate in the state capital Lucknow and elsewhere
in pink marble and sandstone monuments.

Statues of marble elephants and icons of the lower castes, including a
dozen of herself, occupy memorial parks created on a scale not seen in
India since the British built New Delhi in the fading days of their
empire.

A federal government report found that Uttar Pradesh lavished more
than $400 million on such projects between 2007 and 2009 alone -- and
the building continues.

"She's taken it straight out of the pages of the Mughals and the first
British Viceroys who built huge statues. These are abiding icons that
the Dalits always hankered after but never had themselves," said Ajoy
Bose, author of a biography of Mayawati.

Like the Nawabs, descendents of Persian courtiers who governed the
region in the 18th century, Mayawati likes to flaunt her wealth. On
paper, she is India's richest chief minister, with declared assets of
$16 million that include a shopping mall in New Delhi and $169,000 in
jewelry. But unlike many of her peers in other states, she is open
about her income and pays taxes on it.

A U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks last year recounted how
she once sent a private jet to fetch a pair of sandals from Mumbai,
1,000 km (620 miles) away. According to the

cable, one minister was forced to do sit-ups in front of Mayawati as a
punishment for a minor offence; those wanting to become election
candidates for her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had to pay tens of
thousands of dollars for the privilege.

But, unlike her aristocratic Mughal, Nawab and British predecessors,
she hails from India's "Dalit" castes, who were marginalized for
centuries on the bottom rungs of Hinduism's social ladder. Still
today, the idea that a Dalit could become prime minister is as
outlandish for many Indians as the thought of a black president once
was in the United States.

"FIRST-RATE EGOMANIAC"

One of nine children of a poor government clerk, Mayawati grew up in a
Delhi slum and became a school teacher before launching into politics.
Aides say she's a news junkie, who obsessively watches the many
all-news channels now available in India.

She is often ridiculed by urban middle classes for her monumental
personality cult -- the U.S. cable described her as a "first-rate
egomaniac" -- and yet Mayawati still has many supporters in Uttar
Pradesh, where economic growth has picked up and law and order have
improved on her watch.

Mayawati's aides point out that she has spent far more on building
roads and joining villages to the electrical grid than she has on the
icons to herself and the Dalit people.

"Once you get the infrastructure on the ground, Uttar Pradesh will
grow on its own," said a senior official in her inner circle, who
asked not to be identified.

Sympathetic analysts even liken her park-building spree to that of the
Nawab of Lucknow, Asaf-Ud-Dowlah, who employed 20,000 people to build
a shrine during a harsh 1784 famine, a project some historians call an
example of pre-Keynesian economics.

That might be a stretch, but electrification and rural welfare
projects have undoubtedly contributed to economic growth, which at
seven percent annually in her first four years of office, was the
state's fastest-ever rate.

A report by the central government's economic Planning Commission last
year said Mayawati's pro-Dalit policies had begun to improve the dire
nutrition situation in the state, where 42 percent of children under
five are underweight.

Even critics admit crime has fallen noticeably since she took over as
chief minister in 2007 from Mulayam Singh Yadav, a former wrestler
many remember for presiding over a surge in gang violence, with
gun-wielding goons threatening shopkeepers.

POLICE ON THEIR SIDE

In the mainly Dalit village of Bhaddi Kheda, an hour's drive from
Lucknow, families have been given grants to build modest new houses to
replace mud-walled hovels. New toilets improve sanitation, and muddy
lanes have been paved.

Most importantly, said villager Saptruhan Das, Dalits who for
generations were terrorized by higher castes now feel protected
because the police are on their side.

"Yadav people would come and misbehave with the women," Das said,
referring to former Chief Minister Yadav's caste. "In some places,
they'd give us work but beat us. Now with Mayawati in power, nobody
dares."

According to an opinion poll conducted in Uttar Pradesh for India
Today magazine last November, 69 percent said that Mayawati had
fulfilled the expectations of Dalits.

But nearly 9 out of 10 voters said competence mattered more than the
chief minister's caste, two-thirds wanted a change of guard, and the
poll showed that Yadav was more favored than Mayawati as the best
person to lead the state.

Indeed, Yadav's Samajwadi Party could well emerge from the election
with more seats in the 403-member state assembly than Mayawati, though
probably not enough for a majority, forcing him to ally with Gandhi's
Congress for a return to power.

ELEPHANTINE AMBITIONS

It is too soon to write off the wily Mayawati. She has outwitted every
opponent who has crossed her path since the 1990s, first forming
several short-lived coalition governments and then storming home with
a single-party majority in 2007.

She still pulls in crowds of easily 100,000 at election rallies, far
more than her opponents, including Gandhi. And she has a knack for
turning adversity into advantage.

Take the flap over the life-sized elephant statues Mayawati had
erected in a sprawling Lucknow park, which she opened in 2008 and
named after the untouchable leader who wrote India's constitution, Dr.
B.R Ambedkar.

The Election Commission this month ordered all statues of Mayawati and
of elephants -- her party's electoral symbol -- to be covered during
the campaign. So now, dozens of hulking elephant statues are clad in
yellow plastic sheeting, and plyboard boxes have been built around
bronze Mayawati statues.

"I thank the Election Commission for this order," she said. "It is
going to benefit the party and has given us free publicity."

Despite her bravado, Mayawati is likely to lose the votes of millions
who believe that corruption has gone from bad to worse and the fruits
of economic growth have been unevenly spread both across the sprawling
state and its castes.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, one businessman in the state
described a well-organized system of bribe-paying to bureaucrats and
constant harassment of companies for pay-offs.

"You have to be really desperate to do business in Uttar Pradesh. You
have to pay for virtually everything," he said. "Since you have to pay
out even if you follow the law -- why follow the law?"

NO INDUSTRY, NO JOBS

Apart from a couple of companies seen as close to her administration
including Jaypee Group, which built the track used for India's first
Formula One race last year, Uttar Pradesh has missed out on India's
industrial growth of the past decade.

Construction, particularly state-funded building of roads, has been
the main driver of the state's economy, along with agriculture.
Manufacturing has stagnated, hobbled by regular power cuts, high taxes
and corruption.

Dalit villager Chote Lal, 28, says life has improved for his caste
under Mayawati, but he still does not have enough food to feed his
seven children properly. "There are no jobs, no factories -- she
should have brought in industry," he said.

This may be Mayawati's undoing: not the statues and the personal
extravagance, but the sense she has not done enough to lift living
standards evenly across so vast a population.

"Overall, her performance is a mixed bag," said Bose, her biographer.
"She has clearly been disappointing. She had a great chance to do
more."

This is especially felt among higher castes and Muslims, whose votes
helped propel Mayawati to power with a majority in 2007 but who now
feel her pro-Dalit policies have not taken them into account.

"We want a government that works for development, not one that works
for one particular caste or religion," said Mohammed Ahmed Khan, a
Muslim farmer in the village of Dharai Mafi.

(Additional reporting by Alka Pande and Sharat Pradhan; John Chalmers
reported from New Delhi; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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[ZESTCaste] Krishna Madiga demands CBI probe into Ambedkar Statues desecration

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaEQHkhb-mQ

Krishna Madiga demands CBI probe into Ambedkar Statues desecration

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[ZESTCaste] RPI chief alleges role of land mafia

 

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/regions/rajahmundry/rpi-chief-alleges-role-land-mafia-449

RPI chief alleges role of land mafia

January 31, 2012
By DC Correspondent
AMALAPURAM










He also demanded the suspension of Amalapuram sub inspector
Bajilal saying that he was aware of the plot and was trying to dilute
the case. He further alleged that the police failed to nab the real
culprits and arrested the young men who w

The Republican Party of India (RPI) state president, Mr Bojja Tarakam,
alleged the involvement of land mafia in desecration and destruction
of the statues B.R. Ambedkar.

Speaking to newsmen here on Monday, the RP leader alleged that one
Rankireddy Suryanaraya-na encroached upon a community site at
Rollapalem and added that in order to remove the statue of Ambedkar
located in the middle of the site, he conspired with Gandham Pallam
Raju with an offer for a huge amount.

Accordingly, a group of men had a liquor party on the fateful night
and destroyed the statue at Rollapalem. In order to avoid the
attention of Dalit leaders only at Rollapalem, they destroyed the
statues at three other places too.

He blamed the police for failing to carry out thorough investigation
to find out the real culprits. He demanded for inclusion of minister
for animal husbandry Pinepe Viswaroop and Amalapuram MP G.V. Harsha
Kumar in the list of accused in the case alleging that they worked
hand in glove with the culprits.

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[ZESTCaste] Mixed response to AP bandh over statue desecration

 

http://zeenews.india.com/news/andhra-pradesh/mixed-response-to-ap-bandh-over-statue-desecration_755804.html

Mixed response to AP bandh over statue desecration
Last Updated: Monday, January 30, 2012, 22:14

Hyderabad: The state-wide bandh called by Dalit groups to protest the
desecration of BR Ambedkar statues in Andhra Pradesh on Monday evoked
a mixed response.

Barring a few incidents of violence, the shutdown was by and large
peaceful. Unidentified persons set on fire a private bus at
Chilakalguda here this morning.

Police had stepped up security at all vulnerable places, especially in
Telangana. The Osmania University Students Joint Action Committee
supported the bandh.

Most of the educational institutions in the state capital remained
closed, while for majority of the commercial establishments it was
business as usual.

Of the 3,700 buses belonging to Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport
Corporation in the city, as many as 3,300 were plying, according to
the state-run corporation.

South Central Railway operated all train services in the state.

Gandham Pallam Raju, main accused in the desecration of statues of
Ambedkar in East Godavari, surrendered yesterday, while police have
arrested three others in connection with the incidents reported last
week.

According to reports reaching here, the bandh in other parts of the
State was partial and peaceful.

In Visakhapatnam, AP's second largest city after the state capital,
schools, colleges, shops and business establishments and Government
offices functioned as usual.

In Guntur, educational institutions, shops, hotels, banks and a few
government offices remained shut. Small groups of Dalit youth were
seen going around the city enforcing bandh.

PTI

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[ZESTCaste] Stray violence marks dalit bandh in city

 

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/hyderabad/stray-violence-marks-dalit-bandh-city-419

Stray violence marks dalit bandh in city

January 31, 2012
DC
Hyderabad

The one-day bandh called by Dalit organisations and student bodies
passed off peacefully barring some sporadic incidents in the city. The
bandh was called to protest the desecration of statues of the Dalit
icon B.R. Ambedkar in various places across the state. While
educational institutions were completely shut in the city, shops and
other commercial establishments remained open. RTC buses also
registered almost hundred per cent presence on the roads.

In one incidence of violence, a bus belonging to a private operator
was set on fire at Chilkalguda main road early in the morning, but no
other such incidents were reported. A fire tender managed to douse the
fire within half- an-hour. The interior of the bus was gutted. The
owner of the bus, Mr Ghouse Pasha, from Venkateswami Nagar,
Chilkalguda, has lodged a complaint and police is investigating. In
the OU campus, students burnt an effigy of the chief minister. Police
stopped the rally at the NCC gate. The security ensured that the
students remained within the campus.

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit panchayat chief alleges discrimination

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Coimbatore/article2845644.ece

ERODE, January 31, 2012
Dalit panchayat chief alleges discrimination
S. Ramesh

"Caste Hindus adopt obstructionist tactics"

A Dalit woman village panchayat president in Erode district has lodged
complaints with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and the
district administration, alleging caste-based discrimination by the
vice-president of the panchayat and a district panchayat
vice-chairperson.

Valli Deivanai (42), president of Pasuvapatti village panchayat in
Chennimalai block, claimed that she faced discrimination right from
the day her candidature was announced. After she won the elections,
she was not allowed to occupy the chair allotted for the elected
president.

Lack of cooperation

"Caste Hindus in the village are refusing to co-operate in the
administration of the local body. They are adopting obstructionist
tactics in the implementation of development works and causing hurdles
during the selection of beneficiaries for different welfare
programmes," she alleged in her petition.

Ms. Deivanai claimed that the vice-president of the panchayat P.
Mohanasundaram and District Panchayat vice-chairperson Manimekalai
thwarted her efforts to work effectively.

"At the instigation of caste Hindus, the procedures to apply for old
age pension (OAP) were bypassed and many ineligible persons
recommended for the benefit. As a result, I refused to sign in many
OAP application forms."

The District Panchayat vice-chairperson herself signed and recommended
more than 20 ineligible applicants for OAP, she alleged. She also
claimed that panchayat clerk R. Suguna was transferred as she had
refused to co-operate with Ms. Manimekalai and her supporters.

The panchayat president appealed to the government to ensure legal and
administrative safeguards and guarantees enshrined in the
Constitution. She wanted the district administration to intervene
immediately and provide non-discriminatory and atrocity-free
environment, enabling her to function effectively in the panchayat.

Ms. Manimekalai and Mr. Mohanasundaram denied the allegations. "The
allegations are totally baseless and politically motivated. Since we
both belong to AIADMK, the woman panchayat president, who belongs to
DMK, is trying to tarnish our reputation in the village," Ms.
Manimekalai claimed.

Collector V.K. Shanmugam said that the district administration was yet
to receive a representation from the panchayat president.

"We will, however, conduct an inquiry immediately" he said.


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[ZESTCaste] Athawale fumes over dalit outfits joining hands with Cong-NCP

 

http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/athawale-fumes-over-dalit-outfits-joining-hands-with-congncp/958108.html

Athawale fumes over dalit outfits joining hands with Cong-NCP
PTI | 09:01 PM,Jan 30,2012

Mumbai, Jan 30 (PTI) The Republican Party of India (RPI) chief Ramdas
Athawale today criticised dalit leaders Prakash Ambedkar and Jogendra
Kawade for sealing alliance with the Congress and NCP for the upcoming
civic polls. "When I was with Congress, the party did not take along
even a single (dalit) leader. It's good that they (BBM and PRP) have
formed an alliance with Congress and NCP. It will make no impact on
us. Congress has netted two fishes in the form of Prakash Ambedkar and
Jogendra Kawade," the RPI chief added. He was speaking after releasing
the list of six candidates from his party for the BrihanMumbai
Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections while training his guns on
Prakash Ambedkar and Jogendra Kawade, the presidents of Bharipa
Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) and People's Republican Party (PRP)
respectively, for forging alliance with Congress and NCP combine. RPI
which is contesting the city civic poll in alliance with Shiv Sena and
BJP, has been allocated 29 seats out of which the dalit outfit has
ceded two seats to Dalit Panther Party led by Namdeo Dhasal.
Meanwhile, speaking about the cracks developed in the mega alliance of
Shiv Sena, BJP and RPI in some municipal corporations like Nashik,
Nagpur etc, RPI chief Ramdas Athawale said, "As the dispute is between
the saffron alliance partners, the things are becoming difficult". PTI
KVS NSK

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[ZESTCaste] Dalit union demands house allotment under BSUP scheme

 

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/guwahati/Dalit-union-demands-house-allotment-under-BSUP-scheme/articleshow/11694990.cms

Dalit union demands house allotment under BSUP scheme
TNN | Jan 31, 2012, 07.42AM IST

GUWAHATI: Disappointed with inordinate delay in the distribution of
houses constructed for the urban poor, the Harijan Mazdoor Union of
the Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) on Monday staged a dharna in
front of the GMC office at Panbazar in the city. The protesters
demanded immediate allotment of houses to the members of the union as
per the Basic Services for the Urban Poor (BSUP) scheme, which falls
under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

The union members submitted a memorandum to the GMC commissioner
demanding allotment of houses constructed for the poor under the BSUP
scheme. "In the last three years, seven people from our community have
died due to the unhygienic condition of the sheds in which they are
living in Fatasil, Morakhali and Adabari areas of the city. The houses
they used to live in earlier, in Fatasil and Morakhali, were
demolished in 2009 for the construction of apartments by the GMC for
the urban poor. The GMC authorities assured us that those displaced
would get possession of the new apartments within 18 months.
Construction is now complete under the BSUP scheme, but the house
allotment process has been delayed," said general secretary of the
union TB Demudu Rao.

He expressed hope that the GMC commissioner's assurance of completing
the allotment process of the houses within two months becomes a
reality.

Rao said 80 families are living in temporary sheds in Morakhali, while
in Fatasil and Adabari 352 and 60 families, respectively, are living
in temporary sheds in unhygienic conditions without clean drinking
water facilities.

"Under the BSUP scheme, 260 families were provided allotment
certificates while 92 are yet to get these certificates. The GMC said
that the process of issuing allotment certificates was brought to a
halt after complaints that some of the union leaders were involved in
appropriating houses of the needy. But this seems to be just an excuse
to deprive the displaced people of their right to homes under the BSUP
scheme," Rao said.

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[ZESTCaste] Mayawati’s food tracking system for schools gets HRD nod

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Specials/Coverage/Assembly-Elections-2012/Chunk-HT-UI-AssemblyElections2012-UP-OtherStories/Mayawati-s-food-tracking-system-for-schools-gets-HRD-nod/SP-Article10-804267.aspx

Mayawati's food tracking system for schools gets HRD nod
Chetan Chauhan, Hindustan Times
New Delhi, January 30, 2012

UP Chief Minister Mayawati casting her vote at a polling station
during the legislative council election in Lucknow.
Inspired by the way Mayawati government, the Central government has
decided to replicate the Uttar Pradesh model to track mid-day meal
scheme to cross-check if children get their hot meal in schools. The
HRD ministry has decided to have a nation-wide short messaging service
(SMS) alert
system to monitor the Rs 10,000 crore mid-day meal scheme. Under the
scheme, the school children till upper primary level are provided hot
cooked meal once a day.

Mayawati government in UP was the first to introduce a software based
SMS system, wherein the school principal and a few parents received an
automatic message the day less than 50 percent or a large number of
school children were served mid-day meal.

The SMS was generated on basis of information on mid-day meal feed by
teacher in-charge of the scheme into an online monitoring system. The
principal was required to give an explanation through SMS and parents
to verify the claim.

A senior HRD ministry official said the national system will be
improvement of the UP model and no money will be charged from parents
for sending an SMS system to the national server. A successful pilot
has been implemented in Bihar and the ministry expects to cover 12
lakh schools across India by June this year.

Every school will have to feed information regarding the mid-day meal
served to children every day and the type of food. They will be
required to provide details about the quantity of food-grains they
received and the amount used.

The entire information generated would be in public domain on the new
mid-day meal website. "It will help in curbing corruption and ensure
that children get good quality food," HRD minister Kapil Sibal said,
after launching the website on which the mid-day meal scheme
information will be available.

The UPA government has been critical of UP government over
implementation of Central schemes and had detected irregularities in
National Rural Health Mission and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme. But, the government had no problem in
adopting a UP's innovation.


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[ZESTCaste] 'BSP Using Kanshi Ram's Will for Statues Unfortunate'

 

http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=749652

'BSP Using Kanshi Ram's Will for Statues Unfortunate'
PTI | Lucknow | Jan 30, 2012

Congress today flayed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for taking
recourse in the "will" of BSP founder Kanshi Ram for installing her
statues and said it was perhaps the only case in which government
property was "willed".

"I have practiced law but never seen government property being willed
by anyone and it is most unfortunate...A person can will his personal
property to anyone but not public property," Congress spokesman Rashid
Alvi told media persons here.

Accusing opposition parties of anti-dalit mentality, ruling BSP in
Uttar Pradesh had claimed Mayawati's statues were installed in the
state as per the "written will" of party founder Kanshiram.

"Allegations are being levelled regarding installing statues of
Mayawati along with Kanshiram at some memorials and other places...It
is not her will but has been done as per the 'written will' of party
founder Kanshiram," BSP had said in a statement issued here.

"In his will, Kanshiram had directed that Mayawati was her lone
political successor and wherever his statues are installed it should
be done along with that of the BSP national president," the statement
had stated.

The Congress spokesman also made light of Mayawati dismissing her
ministers on corruption charges, saying, "It was hard to believe that
she was not aware of their misdeeds and corrupt practices."

Reacting to BJP manifesto which promised a cow to every BPL family, he
alleged the party has resorted to igniting communal sentiments and
"trying to mislead the electorate on such emotional issues".

Criticising SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav for promising jobs to rape
victims, he said Congress would instead take steps to prevent such
incidents from taking place if it comes to power in UP.
Filed On: Jan 30, 2012 22:32 IST

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[ZESTCaste] Congress allies with Ambedkar’s grandson

http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Congress-allies-with-Ambedkar-s-grandson/Article1-803949.aspx

Congress allies with Ambedkar's grandson
HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times
Mumbai, January 30, 2012

Eyeing Dalit votes in the state, the Congress party has forged a
pre-poll alliance with Prakash Ambedkar's Bharipa (Bharatiya
Republican Party) Bahujan Mahasangh (BBM) for the zilla parishad and
panchayat samiti elections on February 7.

On Sunday, chief minister Prithviraj Chavan
and Prakash Ambedkar, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's grandson, announced the
alliance. The parties could go together for the civic polls in Mumbai
and other places too. The announcement to this effect would be made in
a day or two, said Chavan. State Congress president Manikrao Thakre
also confirmed that talks for finalising the alliance for the
elections for ten municipal corporations on February 16 were underway.

Congress has an alliance with an RPI group led by Jogendra Kawade. The
alliance with BBM — after a gap of 14 years — is significant, as the
other RPI group led by Ramdas Athawale has joined hands with the Shiv
Sena-BJP.

From 1999-2004, the BBM was given a share in the Congress-led
Democratic Front government. This time, the Nationalist Congress Party
(NCP) had offered to ally with the BBM. The plan, however, didn't work
out as Prakash Ambedkar reportedly asked NCP for a nomination to the
Rajya Sabha. The development is seen as Congress's way of snubbing
senior Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, a day after
his party admitted a Congress leader from Hingoli. "We have decided to
form this alliance to give a fitting reply to communal forces
[Sena-BJP] in the state," said Ambedkar.

Now, Ambedkar along with the Congress will challenge the NCP in ZP
polls, where the Congress-NCP does not have an alliance.


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[ZESTCaste] Fresh desecration of Ambedkar statue fans AP caste tensions

 

http://dailypioneer.com/nation/38098-fresh-desecration-of-ambedkar-statue-fans-ap-caste-tensions.html

Fresh desecration of Ambedkar statue fans AP caste tensions

Thursday, 26 January 2012 23:24
PNS | Hyderabad

The Godavari belt in Andhra region continued to face the threat of
caste conflagration with one more statue of Dalit icon Dr B R Ambedkar
being desecrated and damaged by unknown miscreants.

The incident occurred in Dhowleshwaram near Rajahmundry in the East
Godavari district even as Dalit organisations observed a "Black Day"
in Konaseema region of the same district today against the desecration
of four statues of the architect of the Indian constitution.

Dalit organisations put up black flags on Ambedkar statues at many
places in and around Amalapuram.

As the news of damage to another statue spread, Dalit activists and
locals swung into action and held a Rasta Roko on National Highway 5.
They shouted slogans against the Government and the police and
demanded action against the culprits.

A senior police official rushed to the spot and started
investigations. The State Government had ordered an additional
director general of police to head investigations into the desecration
of four statues earlier this week but nothing has come out of it yet.

The "politics of statues" came to the fore in the backdrop of growing
tensions between Dalits and Kapus in the East Godavari district of
late.

Many political parties have strongly condemned the incidents. The
Communist of Party of Indian state secretary K Narayana said that
incidents were the fall out of feuds within the Congress party.

The State Congress president Botsa Satyanarayana said the incidents
were part of conspiracy to destabilise the Government behind the
incidents", he told the reporters in Hyderabad.

Film star and Telugu Desam leader N Balakrishna demanded stringent
action against the people behind the vandalism and desecration of the
statues of Ambedkar.

Meanwhile, the police in Hyderabad arrested Telangana Jagruti leader
Kavita when she tried to lead a march towards the State Assembly
demanding installation of Ambedkar statue in the State Assembly. Many
other leaders and supporters of Telangana Jagruti were also arrested
along with her .

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