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#RIDINGTHETIGER SUBSCRIBE NOW www.indiatoday.in/digitalmagazines FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

he promiscuity of Indian political parties is well governance and jobs dominate the electoral narrative. Just known. The past four decades are riddled with six months ago, the BJP came to power at the Centre with a instances of the strangest bedfellows getting thumping majority by itself, even better than its performance together to be in power. The most recent of course in the previous general election. In December 2017, the party is the soap opera played out in Maharashtra. Two ruled over 71 per cent of ’s land mass. Two years later, Tparties—the BJP and the —which had been allies the figure is down to 40 per cent. It now rules, alone or with for the past 30 years fought the election together. They got a allies, four large states and 12 smaller ones. mandate to rule the state jointly, but fell out after the results The BJP’s decline in the states comes even as the party were declared on October 24 over the Sena’s claims that they has increased its dependence on every tool in the political had a 50:50 arrangement to share the chief ministership. The playbook, from engineering defections to form governments BJP denied it had made any such promise and, after a 16-day to rewarding defectors with plum posts. Arunachal Pradesh, stand-off, decided to call the Sena’s bluff. Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Goa... there is a However, much to the BJP’s consternation, the long list of states where the BJP has engineered Sena made good on its threat—after lengthy defections to undermine governments. The tripartite negotiations, the Sena, the NCP and party targets corruption, but has no qualms the Congress decided to form a government. about accepting tainted leaders into its fold. It The real drama, however, was yet to begin. has also been accused of using central investi- Before the coalition could present themselves gative agencies against its political opponents. to the governor to prove that they had a Not being able to form a government in India’s majority, the BJP jumped the gun. In an un- wealthiest state, Maharashtra, has dented its precedented move, Prime Minister Narendra image of electoral invincibility. Despite being Modi invoked Rule 12 of the Government of the largest party in the state, it was outmanoeu- India (Transaction of Business) Rules, which vred by the veteran Sharad Pawar. gives the prime minister emergency powers to Most importantly, one of the reasons for take a unilateral decision and get ex-post facto the BJP’s phenomenal resurgence was its clean approval from the cabinet. image and the impression that This provision is used only to it took the moral high ground. meet a situation of extreme Once it claimed to be the urgency or unforeseen con- party with a difference. With tingency. This was obviously its recent actions, it is now a neither. This rule was used party that is no different from to wake up the President the rivals it once attacked. The early in the morning to revoke lustre of rectitude has faded. President’s rule in the state to Our cover story, ‘Rid- enable the governor to preside ing the Tiger’, put together over the swearing-in of a so- by our bureau, Senior As- called coalition government sociate Editor Kiran D. Tare, of BJP chief minister De- Senior Deputy Editor Uday vendra Fadanvis and deputy Raj Chengappa receives the award from Vice-President Mahurkar and Senior Editor chief minister of and I&B minister Prakash Javadekar; Kaushik Deka, examines the the NCP, who claimed he had above, the December 31, 2018 cover story rise of Uddhav Thackeray as the support of 32 MLAs. This an unlikely chief ministerial formality, too, was completed candidate. Now the big ques- by 7.50 am. tion is, how long will this coming together of bitter enemies It was at this point that the wily Maratha strongman, in Maharashtra last? Will the glue of power prove stronger Sharad Pawar, stepped in to protect his flock of MLAs and than their conflicting ideologies? Also, whether the BJP has ultimately persuaded nephew Ajit Pawar to return to the learnt any lessons from this experience. We will know soon NCP fold. The result was that the Fadnavis government enough, in the forthcoming state elections. lasted only 80 hours, leaving the BJP red-faced and its erst- while ally, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, firmly in the chief n a different note, I would like to congratulate our minister’s chair. It is a mystery to me how astute, seasoned Group Editorial Director (Publishing) Raj Chen- politicians like and the prime minister could not O gappa for being the joint winner of the Press Council only let this happen but also be a party to this humiliation. of India’s National Award for Rural Journalism 2019 for the There are several lessons the BJP can learn from Maha- india today cover story ‘The New Bharat’ in the issue dated rashtra. It cannot afford to take its allies for granted even December 31, 2018. It is always good to be recognised for our when it is the senior partner. Also reinforced is the fact that efforts at chronicling the India story as it unfolds. people tend to vote differently in state and central elections. Issues such as national security, the dilution of Article 370 and the image of a strong leader play out well on the national stage, but at the regional level, issues like the quality of (Aroon Purie)

DECEMBER 9, 2019 INDIA TODAY 1 UPFRONT LEISURE RETURN OF THE THE BARD OF www.indiatoday.in KERALA JIHADI PG 3 BENARES PG 45

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KASHMIR’S THE PROMISE AND NEW NORMAL ENIGMA OF BURMA PG 6 UPFRONT PG 7

PRISONERS OF FAITH Surrendered IS fighters with their weapons in Jalalabad, Nangarhar province, Afghanistan, on Nov. 17 NOORULLAH SHIRZADA/AFP NOORULLAH

ISIS RETURN OF THE JIHADI By Jeemon Jacob

ince 2016, Islamic State (IS or der of 243 ISIS fighters with around Indian intelligence officials say that ISIS) recruits in Afghanistan 400 family members. This followed a majority of Keralites who had joined Shad been using messaging apps offensives against the militant group’s the Islamic State were in Nangarhar to communicate with their families in strongholds in Kunar and Nangarhar and Kunar provinces. “We have been Kerala. Then, about five months ago, provinces. Since October 20, govern- keeping tabs on their families and mon- the messages stopped. The silence of ment forces had maintained a regular itoring their communications,” a senior over 100 such recruits—about 30 of bombardment of ISIS strongholds in police official from the intelligence wing whom were from Kerala—coincided these areas, as well as cutting off food told india today. “We are awaiting the with a massive assault on ISIS positions supplies, leaving the militants a stark Union home ministry’s response [to by US and Afghan forces. choice—surrender or starvation. The these developments].” On November 19, Shahmahmood governor estimated that about a third Many ISIS recruits from Kerala Miakhel, governor of Nangarhar of the surrendering fighters were from have met with grim fates. For in- province in Afghanistan, on the border and India and said they would stance, three are believed to have been with Pakistan, announced the surren- be taken to Kabul for interrogation. killed in the US bombing campaign in

UPFRONT

Afghanistan between June and August this year. Muhammed Muhsin, a 21-year-old engineering student from Changaramkulam in Malappuram was killed on June 18, with his death confirmed by intelligence agencies. Similarly, Saifudeen Kun- jahmed from Tirurangadi in Malappuram, was killed in the second week of July. A third recruit, from Kannur, is believed to have been killed in August, but his death has not been confirmed. Intelligence officials say the surviving fighters were anxious to escape. “[Our sources say] they Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY TANMOY by Illustration were desperate to get out of the war zone and were trapped in the mountains,” the official revealed. PERSPECTIVE: AFRS The Islamic State’s ‘Khorasan province’—a re- gion including parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan and India—was established in Nangarhar and Kunar EVERY MOVE provinces in late 2014. Its leadership included for- mer Tehreek-e-Taliban and Afghan Taliban cadres. A UN report recently estimated that around 2,500 YOU MAKE... to 4,000 ISIS fight- By Vidushi Marda ers were operating 98 people are in this area. estimated to Since May 2016, ndia is on the threshold of inspection, however, paints a have migrated around 98 people setting up a gigantic national different picture. If implement- from Kerala have migrated Automated Facial Recogni- ed, the AFRS will activate a with their from Kerala with Ition System (AFRS), which seamless surveillance mecha- families since their families to the National Crime Records nism, and will affect not only May 2016 to join the Islamic Bureau (NCRB), under the home those considered ‘criminals’ State in Nangarhar ministry, has laboured to insist but every individual who walks join the ISIS in province. Over the will be used exclusively for past a CCTV camera, who owns Afghanistan past three years, “criminal identification, veri- a passport, who has ever pro- around seven have fication and its dissemination vided a photograph of herself to been killed in airstrikes. Rashid Abdulla, who led a among various police organisa- the government. It will create a 21-member team from Kerala to Afghanistan, was tions and units across the coun- biometric map of her face, and killed in US airstrikes in May, while Shajeer Man- try”. The contract bids, invited store this sensitive data to be galassery Abdulla, an engineering graduate from in July, were to close earlier used, analysed and matched at NIT Kozhikode, was killed in June 2017. Rashid this month. Possibly the world’s any later point in time, violat- and Shajeer were both instrumental in radicalis- largest facial recognition ing the principle of consent, ing Keralites through an IS module in the state. project, the proposed AFRS will with few (if any) limitations on Worryingly, however, Kerala’s ISIS migration has use images from sources like how this data can be shared, continued. Last year alone, around 20 Keralites CCTV cameras, newspapers accessed or mined. Essentially, joined ISIS affiliates in Yemen. This has continued and raids to identify criminals the AFRS will enable mass data despite Kerala’s state intelligence agencies conduct- by connecting to a centralised collection without an underlying ing aggressive counter-radicalisation programmes. database called the Crime and legal basis. For instance, on August 8, state chief minister Criminal Tracking Network Why is a ‘legal basis’ Pinarayi Vijayan convened and addressed a meet- and Systems (CCTNS) to find crucial? Use cases of facial ing of Muslim organisations and religious groups. matches with images harvested recognition around the world However, two radical organisations—the SDPI and from these diverse sources. have shown that it can be used Popular Front of India—were notably absent. To go with how the NCRB as a tool to monitor peaceful According to officials from Afghanistan’s min- frames it is to believe that the protests, to profile minorities, istry of defence, after interrogations, non-Afghan AFRS concerns only those to create arbitrary watchlists of ISIS recruits and family members captured from who have had a brush with law supposedly ‘suspicious’ people, such areas are sent back to their home countries. enforcement, and only those and even to infer emotions from This is one return of expatriates Kerala will be individuals who have their faces facial expressions (a claim that deeply uncomfortable about. n stored in the CCTNS. A closer is scientifically unsound at the

4 INDIA TODAY DECEMBER 9, 2019 very outset). It turns the principle of FACIAL ‘innocent until proven guilty’ on its RECOGNITION head—under the AFRS, we are all po- tential criminals, presumed guilty, until PILOTS RUN BY THE an opaque, imperfect and inscrutable DELHI POLICE HAD system confirms we are not. AN ACCURACY RATE Even so, the justification for State OF LESS THAN 1% use of facial recognition technology is usually its ability to enhance public safety and security. This justifica- tion is, however, both technically and India reaffirmed the Right to Privacy legally flawed. under the Indian Constitution, explic- The AFRS will rely primarily on itly stating that this right extended to machine learning—the most popular public spaces. Importantly, the court subset of artificial intelligence (AI) laid down a four-part proportionality techniques—to identify, biometri- test that any infringement of the right cally map and recognise faces. These to privacy must satisfy. Even for law machine learning systems are far from enforcement-related collection of perfect—in fact, there is overwhelming personal data, any infringing action evidence of technical limitations, even must be demonstrated to be in pursuit in the most advanced applications. of a legitimate aim, bear a rational Recently, police trials of facial recogni- connection with the aim and shown to tion in London revealed such poor be necessary and proportionate. Ap- accuracy rates and operational short- plying the proportionality standard to comings that the House of Commons a case regarding government surveil- called for a moratorium on the use and lance, the Bombay High Court in 2019 trial of facial recognition technology. held that the State cannot simply claim Even police departments in the UK are ‘law and order’ or ‘national security’ resisting trials. as a reason to restrict the right to The technical limitations of these privacy, and that it must satisfy the technologies are even more wor- four-part test. The procedural and rying because facial recognition is substantive basis of AFRS does not particularly unreliable and inaccurate satisfy this standard. in the case of women, children and The AFRS tender assumes that ethnic minorities. False positives leave facial recognition technology is a misidentified individuals vulnerable to panacea to complex social problems, harassment and wrongful arrests, in without meaningfully engaging with the absence of any meaningful redress what the technology truly is. The ten- or accountability mechanisms. Facial der award has been delayed five times recognition pilots run by the Delhi so far, possibly because Indian firms police have demonstrated an accuracy have complained that the bid require- rate of less than 1 per cent, and in a ments kept them out, or over the IFF trial meant to find missing children, the legal notice, asking questions about system had a hard time even differen- privacy, consent and legality that the tiating between boys and girls. government is yet to answer. In either Technical challenges aside, the le- case, the home ministry still has time gal basis of AFRS is unclear. Respond- to reconsider its tender, and the as- ing to a legal notice sent by the Internet sumptions that underlie it. It is crucial Freedom Foundation (IFF), the home that it does so. n ministry stated that the legality of the AFRS stems from a Cabinet note of VIDUSHI MARDA is a lawyer and 2009. But a cabinet note is not a legal leads research on AI and human document, and thus cannot be the ba- rights for Article 19’s global digital sis on which the system is rolled out. team. She is also a non-resident In 2017, the Supreme Court of scholar for Carnegie India UPFRONT PULLQUOTE

ANI INDEX Kashmir’s New Normal In response to a series of questions since the lifting of a travel advisory in in Parliament, G. Kishan Reddy, the October. Similarly, the home ministry minister of state for home affairs, provided numbers on arrests for offered a barrage of statistics to stone-throwing this year to bolster its show that Kashmiris were increas- claim that such incidents were on the ingly participating in ordinary life, that decline, but the overall numbers mask children had returned to school, that the truth that, despite the overwhelm- security was under control and that ing security and thousands of preven- communications had largely been tive arrests, stone-throwing incidents restored. But the numbers did not are actually on the rise since August 5 answer all questions. For instance, compared to earlier in the year. Also, the home ministry, while providing despite the home ministry’s revelation overall tourist numbers in Kashmir that almost all Kashmiri schoolchil- for the past six months, did not shed dren were in school for their board light on the losses the tourist industry exams, it’s unclear what the average “MY RELATIVES, has suffered since August 5 and the attendance has been since schools MY FATHER abrogation of Article 370, nor did it reopened, with some reports claiming offer specific numbers of visitors attendance is as low as three per cent. CAME FROM BANGLADESH... AFTER, I WAS BORN 5,161 3,410,219 IN TRIPURA. SO, IF preventive arrests in (or 3.4 million) tourists Kashmir since August have visited J&K in the ANYONE SUFFERS 4, a day before the past 6 months, says A LOSS DUE TO abrogation of Article 370, home ministry, including says the home ministry; 12,934 foreign tourists, NRC, I SHALL 609 are currently earning the former state LOSE MY CHIEF detained, including 218 Rs 25.1 crore stone-pelters MINISTERSHIP FIRST. AM I A FOOL 35% THAT I SHALL fall in tourist IMPLEMENT NRC...?” 765 arrivals in Kashmir arrests in 190 alone between 2012 stone-pelting incidents and 2018, show Speaking in Bengali at a press conference, the BJP’s BIPLAB between August 5 official figures and November 15 KUMAR DEB, the young motor-mouthed Tripura chief minister, was caught on camera ` equivocating about the National 10,000 crore Register of Citizens, a white whale 950 cost to Kashmir since project seemingly close to home August 5, says the Kashmir minister Amit Shah’s heart. This incidents of ceasefire violation Chamber of Commerce and caused sufficient outrage on social recorded across the LoC media for Deb’s office to describe Industry, in large part due between August and October the video as having been faked to the internet shutdown and the stories as malicious. To be fair to Deb, the extended video does show that he was offering a ` convoluted defence of and praise 50,272 38 crore for the NRC rather than criticism. class XI students, out of 50,537 in the spent by the government to But the NRC has already proved Kashmir Valley (99.5%), appeared purchase 8,960 tonnes of to be such a monumentally futile for exams on schedule; 99.7% class apples from farmers unable to exercise in Tripura’s Northeast X and XII students wrote board sell their produce, says neighbour Assam, that Deb would examinations, says the home ministry home ministry arguably be a fool to argue too strongly for implementing the NRC. Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY UPFRONT

BOOKS

even today; third, to a virulent strain of predatory capitalism starting with THE PROMISE AND British exploitation of Burma’s natural resources, followed by their aggrava- ENIGMA OF BURMA tion as part of a complex ceasefire with ethnic armed insurgents in which By Gautam Mukhopadhaya ethnic militias, the Burmese Army and Chinese business interests across the border profited from timber, jade, ontemporary Myanmar’s best drugs, gambling, illegal trafficking known historian Thant Myint- and organised crime; and finally a cosy C U’s latest book brings his series relationship between business cronies of books on Myanmar, beginning with and the Burmese military regime that his thesis on The Making of Modern came about with the end of the Burmese Burma, up to date to the present. In the experiment with socialism in the 1980s. process he provides as complete a guide To all this, Thant Myint-U brings a to understanding this captivating yet human and personal perspective, with enigmatic country as possible. portraits of key players in the dramatis It is a complex story with a reso- personae and snapshots of individuals nance well beyond Myanmar, told with caught in the throes of forces beyond a historian’s sense of perspective and their control. Three individuals deserve analysis and a writer’s gift for storytell- The Hidden History special notice: Peace ‘Minister’ U Aung of Burma ing. It begins with the early history of by Thant Myint-U Min, a charismatic former general and the Arakan—where Mughal India, the JUGGERNAUT railway minister who took personal Burmese Konbaung, the Arakan rulers `394; 320 pages risks and adopted unconventional of Mrak-U and seafarers from the Ara- methods to build trust with ethnic bian Sea to the early Europeans met and insurgent leaders to all but achieve sometimes collided—and on to the 1988 THE IMPOSITION OF a nationwide ceasefire agreement in student-led uprising and the emergence BRITISH CLASSIFI- 2015; U Soe Thane, the former navy of Aung San Suu Kyi as an icon of de- CATIONS ON LOCAL chief, a jovial, diplomatic and economic mocracy. It traces major events like the NOTIONS OF ‘THE architect of Myanmar’s opening to the rise of Senior General Than Shwe and West; and Nay Win Aung, tireless advo- OTHER’ RESULTED IN the seven-step roadmap to democracy; cate of reform and founder of Myanmar the fateful cyclone and its sav- A RIGID DEFINITION ‘Egress’, an NGO that played a profound age intimation of climate change; the OF NATIONALITY THAT role in educating the reformists with an politics of the reformist period led by PERSISTS TODAY agenda for a new Myanmar. President Thein Sein, perhaps the most The author’s own contribution to hopeful period in Myanmar's recent reform, ranging from advocating for history; and the hopes raised by the engagement by the West with Myan- 2012-15 peace process and its dissipa- Thant Myint-U traces the roots mar, to playing the role of a political tion under Daw Aung San Suu Kyi (and of Myanmar’s current failures first to and cultural ‘interpreter’ between the the role of the Chinese in it). It notes Burma’s abrupt break from the past af- two when it was needed, to an advisor the profound failure of the military, ter the defeat of the Konbaung dynasty on the peace process and the founder reformists and democrats to deal with and the disruption of the traditional of the Yangon Heritage Trust, was by the economy and the needs of the poor; authority in the countryside around the no means small. He remains till now the explosion of intolerance and violence turn of the 19th century by the British; a passionate if lonely advocate for an conflating race, religion, nativism, second, the superimposition of British enlightened Myanmar, in which the indigeneity and nation, drawing oxygen census classifications with Stalinist poor, the impact of climate change and from political freedoms and aggravated conceptions of nationality on traditional a more fluid definition of identity have a by social media, that are at the base notions of the ‘other’ that resulted in a more central place. n of right-wing religious nationalism in rigid definition of nationality limited to Myanmar and anti-Rohingya sentiment those recognised as ‘indigenous’ races The writer is a former ambassador today; and the handling and implica- at the time of the first Anglo-Burmese to Myanmar and a senior fellow tions of the rise of China for Myanmar. war in 1824, a definition that holds at the Centre for Policy Research

UPFRONT ANI LADIES SPECIAL est Bengal chief minister W Mamata Banerjee hasn’t agreed to share Teesta river waters with Bangladesh. Bangladesh president Sheikh Hasina won’t resume Hilsa fish exports yet. The two leaders, however, had a cordial 50-minute meeting at a Kolkata hotel on November 22, exchanging handicrafts, shawls, sweets and gifts. They put on a friendly face, with Mamata requesting Hasina to

SIDDHANT JUMDE SIDDHANT be informal and drop the respectful ‘aapni’ for the more casual ‘tumi’. Well begun, as they say…

Illustration by by Illustration Proxy Critic ana Sena founder-chief Pawan JKalyan doesn’t miss any chance to vent his ire on YSR Congress GLASSHOUSE chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy’s regime. Kalyan says Reddy’s six months in power LOK TANTRA have led to uncertainty, ust hours before he was to take oath as chief minister on November 23, demolitions, and his wife Amruta hosted a late-night pooja at the CM’s harassment, haste and J official residence, Varsha. Conducting the ceremony were four priests from destruction. ‘Mana Nadi the Ma Baglamukhi temple in Madhya Pradesh. Said to have been recommended Mana Nudi’, his campaign by a senior BJP leader to clear possible coronation hurdles, the temple is known on Twitter, has led some to say that for tantric rituals and drew much criticism on that account. As things turned out, the Telugu Desam Party runs the it seems, the tantric winds blew in the opposite direction. Fadnavis should have handle—Kalyan is preparing to learnt from the experience of . Nine years ago, the then CM had join with its chief, N. Chandrababu held a Satya Sai Baba pooja at the CM’s residence. However, he had to resign 10 Naidu, against the YSR Congress. days later following his alleged involvement in the Adarsh housing society scam. Divine intervention sometimes works for the opposite side. SELF CENSORSHIP? ho says retired babus can’t be NAME DROPPING W influential? While many believed that the MP government had buried yotiraditya Scindia’s rejig of his Twitter the recent sex-for-favours scandal, J bio—he now describes himself as a ‘public two exposes—a video allegedly servant’ and ‘cricket enthusiast’—raised quite featuring a former BJP minister and a storm, fuelling speculation that he was an audio recording allegedly of a about to bid goodbye to the Congress. The former IAS officer close to former CM former Union minister had to point out that —have brought the change was a month old and that the the issue back in focus. While storm was better suited to a teacup. But in media outlets (and even the ruling the excitement, no one noticed that ‘public Congress) took up the video, they did servant’ is a legal term and that Scindia not touch the audio recording. Some

currently isn’t one. Maybe he meant ‘servant TIWARI PANKAJ say the IAS closed ranks to protect of the public’? There’s no law against that. one of their own. Nonetheless, the exposes, widely circulated on social media, have babus and politicians —Sandeep Unnithan with Kiran D. Tare, Romita Datta, worried—no one knows who’s next. Rahul Noronha and Amarnath K. Menon UPFRONT

GUEST COLUMN A Stepmotherly State REETIKA KHERA How short-sighted policymaking leaves children nutritionally vulnerable

ndia’s abysmal nutritional outcomes become whenever a proposal was made to provide eggs to children newsworthy for about two days every year, coinciding and pregnant and lactating women, the government in the with the release of the Global Hunger Index (GHI) state rejected it under the influence of this pressure group. I report. This year was no exception: for two days, a Recently, when the women and child development minister handful of media outlets bemoaned India’s further slide in said she was willing to introduce eggs, keeping in mind the the rankings, a predictable highlight of which was that it had poor nutrition outcomes in Madhya Pradesh, one BJP leader done worse than even Pakistan—India’s ‘Gabbar Singh’. said children who are fed eggs become man-eaters when they Little attention is paid to two important caveats: one, the grow up. Fortunately, the current chief minister has looked GHI ranking is rarely comparable across years and two, an the other way, and announced that from April 1, 2020, eggs aggregation of four indicators of hunger and nutrition, the will be given thrice a week. GHI includes a questionable ‘calorie consumption’ measure Another area of serious neglect is maternity benefits. from the FAO, which confuses food supply with calorie intake. The National Food Security Act (NFSA) in 2013 recognised These two caveats play in favour of the government, allowing universal maternity entitlements for the first time. The Act it to dismiss the GHI findings. The focus on GHI, in fact, provides Rs 6,000 per child for women in the unorganised deflects attention from a long-standing, sector (for comparison, women in the widely acknowledged issue that nutrition organised sector get 26 weeks of paid leave). outcomes have been improving very slowly. In 2017, when the Pradhan Mantri Matru The Comprehensive National Nutrition Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) was launched to Survey, conducted by Unicef, finds little operationalise this legal entitlement, benefits change in the rate of improvement of key were arbitrarily cut to Rs 5,000 for the first indicators. During 2016-18, around a third child only. Even this meagre provision in of Indian children were stunted; a similar three instalments, we learnt from a recent proportion were underweight. Because RTI application, reached only 12 per cent of they measure nutrition outcomes, these all pregnant mothers in 2018-19. anthropometric indicators are considered The assault on children’s rights extends more meaningful than calorie consumption. beyond nutrition interventions. Many Why is it that the improvement has been states are still insisting on Aadhaar to enrol so slow, in spite of impressive GDP growth children at anganwadis, in clear violation rates? Apart from niggardly budgets, the of Supreme Court orders. Children most policy neglect was partly due to the late in need might be denied basic healthcare realisation that undernutrition has an inter-generational (including vaccinations) and pre-school services. dimension, and that special attention is required in the first In Assam, the state government has unleashed a mindless 1,000 days of a child’s life (starting in the mother’s womb). disruption of the very popular mid-day meal programme. Government programmes that reach women and children in Recently, the central government allowed centralised kitchens this window of opportunity include maternity benefits and to supply mid-day meals, even in rural areas. Centralised the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme, kitchens (even those run by not-for-profit groups) are harder the main programme for children under six and pregnant and for teachers and parents to monitor, creating accountability lactating mothers. Both have been under threat in recent years. issues. They make little sense in rural areas where the density The introduction of eggs in the anganwadi menu has of schools is low: costs increase as do the chances of food been an important battleground. Eggs are a nutrient- going bad. Yet, within days of the notification, mid-way dense ‘superfood’, logistically feasible in rural areas that through the academic year, Assam ordered a switch to an lack refrigerated storage facilities, and unlike milk or dal, NGO-run central kitchen for the supply of school meals. cannot be diluted. In Jharkhand, the supply of eggs in Unsurprisingly, just days after the move, more than 500 anganwadis, introduced by the current government, has been children were reportedly hospitalised. discontinued for unstated reasons for the past few months “Bachche toh sanjhe hote hain (children are a social and there is no guarantee that it will resume. responsibility)”—we hear this often in the course of our field In other states (notably Madhya Pradesh and studies. Pity our policymakers don’t seem to agree. n Chhattisgarh), the introduction of eggs has been actively resisted by upper-caste vegetarian lobbies. For a decade, The writer is a development economist and teaches at IIM-A

Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY J&K: SNOWED JHARKHAND: MISSING UNDER PG 1 3 STATES THE POLL BUS PG 1 4 RETURN VEHICLE? Mamata Banerjee at an earlier protest against NRC in Kolkata

WEST BENGAL IN NRC, DIDI SEES A COMEBACK CLAW WITH THE NRC LOOMING OVER BENGAL, MAMATA BANERJEE GRANTS LAND RIGHTS TO REFUGEES AND ARGUES HOW THE REGISTER WILL UNDERMINE THE INTERESTS OF BOTH HINDUS AND MUSLIMS 11,900 KOLKATA refugee familes in West Bengal granted land ownership rights By Romita Datta

n November 25, while voting was under man)—the Bengali equivalent of PM ’s way for three assembly bypolls in West ‘chowkidar’—of the people against the NRC. “They Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee (BJP) have to get past me to touch anybody from O announced her government’s decision to Bengal... Assam is BJP-ruled, so it [NRC] could be grant land ownership rights to 11,900 refugee families executed,” a combative Mamata says. in the state. “It has been a ‘na ghar ka, na ghat ka’ At the same time, Mamata has reportedly told par- (neither here, nor there) existence for these refugees ty leaders to keep the NRC issue alive by organising for over 48 years, despite residing here, earning a seminars, meetings and processions and maintaining livelihood, sending their children to school and cast- a high-decibel protest. The issue has been getting ing votes. We have decided to regularise all refugee traction among the Gorkha, Rajbongshi and other colonies,” Mamata declared. ethnic groups in north Bengal. At a Cooch Behar rally, The announcement is strategically timed, as Bengal Mamata claimed that 1.1 million out of the 1.2 million simmers over the BJP’s repeated assertions that the Bengalis excluded in the Assam NRC were Rajbong- National Register of Citizens (NRC) survey held in As- shis, while in Darjeeling, she said 150,000 Gorkhas sam will be extended nationwide and Mamata makes had been left out. Support from the Rajbongshis was noises about not allowing it in her instrumental in the BJP’s Lok state. Regardless of how many Sabha wins from Cooch Behar refugees will ultimately ben- and Jalpaiguri while the Gork- efit—only 94 refugee colonies are has overwhelmingly backed the on Bengal government land as MAMATA HAS party in Darjeeling. against 150 on central land—ana- REPORTEDLY Mamata has also de- lysts say a signal has gone out nounced the Citizenship that the Mamata government is INSTRUCTED HER Amendment Bill as a central concerned about the welfare of PARTY TO KEEP ‘lollipop’ that cannot guarantee Muslims and Hindus alike. THE NRC ISSUE citizens their rights. On the Interestingly, two of the backfoot following the wides- bypoll constituencies, Karimpur ALIVE WITH A cale exclusion of Hindu names in Nadia and Kaliaganj in North HIGH-DECIBEL in the Assam NRC, the state Dinajpur, share boundaries BJP has been advocating the with Bangladesh and have felt PROTEST bill as a safety net for Hindus the pressures of illegal cross- and other non-Muslim refugees border migration. While Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan make up almost 20 per cent of and Afghanistan. “The TMC is the votes in Kaliaganj, the Hindu population in these milking NRC, making both Muslim and Hindu refugees areas is also just as tense, following the exclusion of believe no one is safe in BJP-ruled states. So far, the hundreds of thousands of Hindu families from the final BJP has lacked the organisation, machinery and lead- NRC list in Assam. “Every other day, the BJP says new ership to counter it,” says Biswanath Chakraborty, things about NRC. We are Hindus and crossed over professor of political science at Rabindra Bharati [from Bangladesh]. We wonder what documents they University, Kolkata. will demand,” says Aghor Das, a resident of Nadia. Unlike in the past, Mamata is also being careful not Bhuban Bairagi, who lives in Kaliaganj, says: “There to be seen as anti-Hindu, as manifest in her refusal to have been so many suicide deaths in the state. Many comment on the Supreme Court’s Ayodhya verdict. were Hindus. How do we know we are safe?” Ray, however, cautions: “She is trying to do a lot of “Mamata Banerjee has played it wise by sending things simultaneously—often conflicting and contra- out the message that she is doing all she can for the dictory. It’s like trial and error. While her equivoca- Hindu refugees,” says Prasanta Ray, professor emeri- tion on the Ayodhya case will not go down well with tus, Presidency University, Kolkata. The chief minister hardline Hindus and Muslims, the NRC has become an

SUBIR HALDERSUBIR has been projecting herself as the ‘paharadar’ (watch- over-used vessel that will wear out in the long run.” n

DECEMBER 9, 2019 INDIA TODAY 11 STATES SLIP, SLIDE Pakyong airport runway

SIKKIM

downward settling)’ of the land on the airstrip as well as airport,” says a senior Rundown Runway engineer of the Sikkim government, The Pakyong airport, inaugurated by Prime Minister requesting anonymity. Modi in late 2018, has been closed since June The results are already showing with the land undulating in places. Even By Romita Datta the airstrip is not a smooth surface any more. Technical experts says the differ- ential subsidence is causing cracks in he scenic Pakyong airport in VFR (visual flight rules) airport, was the upper hills, making the land prone Sikkim, at a height of 4,646 feet, flagged off without the mandatory to landslides. The defect in construct- T was planned as part of India’s instrumental landing facilities. This ing the wall has also affected 52 acres of Act East strategy, opening up the air to has become its bane, with the inclem- land on an adjacent hill and 37 families new trade routes with Southeast Asia. ent weather conditions in the hills. A have already sought legal redress. But the airport hasn’t seen a flight take senior government official, refusing to The overruns have doubled project off since June after SpiceJet stopped its be quoted, asks, “What was the reason cost estimates from the initial Rs 300 flights from Kolkata, citing ‘operation- to rush it through?” He also provides crore. The Centre has agreed to give al constraints’. the answer—“The 2019 general elec- Rs 20 crore as compensation to affected The Airports Authority of India tion and the Northeast vote bank.” families, instead of the Rs 86 crore they (AAI) had said the airport would be “The airport was built by cut- have demanded. It will clearly not be operational by October-end, but that ting a huge mass out of a hill without enough. Meanwhile, PWD officials say date has passed. The greenfield airport provision for a retaining the width of the airstrip faces many issues, including deterio- wall. The base was rein- The Gabion has also been comprom- rating land conditions and shortcom- forced with a Gabion wall ised. The AAI had plans to ings in the engineering work and (stacked stone-filled gabi- wall, built fill up the subsidence with drainage from the airstrip. ons) up to a height of 300 to support light fly-ash to maintain Inaugurated by Prime Minister feet, but without a strong the base the surface, but technical Narendra Modi in September 2018 foundation. This resulted and runway, experts say this is not a under the UDAN regional connectiv- in ‘differential subsidence is now permanent solution when ity scheme (RCS), Pakyong, being a (sudden sinking or gradual sagging the foundation is faulty. n

12 INDIA TODAY DECEMBER 9, 2019 J&K

The Rs 10,000 crore horticulture industry is a major contributor to the local economy, involving 700,000 SNOWED UNDER families or 3.5 million people (47 per Unseasonal heavy snow and the lockdown in the cent of the population) directly or in- Valley have crippled farmers directly. A single tree yields 5-50 boxes of apples, depending on its lifespan. “It By Moazum Mohammad takes 20 years for a tree to mature. So this is going to hit a generation,” says Ghu lam Hassan, who owns a 2.5 acre uneer Hussain is a desperate is vital to allow trees to bear the load spread. Initially, the state horticulture man today. The 42-year-old of snow or fruit. The second reason department pegged the overall losses to Shopian apple farmer has was the internet blackout. Mushtaq orchards at around 30-35 per cent, but Ma hundred-odd trees in his Ahmad in Baramulla says, “Usually, the farmers disagree. Mushtaq Ahmad small orchard and, in a normal year, my son would keep track of the weather Malik, president of the Fruit Growers harvests about 1,500 boxes of apples. through the internet. But it has been and Zamindars Association, says the This season, though, the snow has fallen suspended for the past three months survey defies logic as most orch ards ahead of schedule and has ruined ev- and the forecasts did not reach us.” have just a few trees standing now. erything. “Only 15 trees are safe, the rest The lockdown after the abroga- Last year, too, untimely snow had have suffered irreparable damage,” says tion of Article 370 on August 5 and the led to losses of about Rs 500 crore. But a dejected Hussain. “I looked after this recent militant attacks and killings had then the administration announced orchard like my child for the past two delayed the harvest and relief. Farmers were paid a decades. I never expected this.” disrupted the apple trade, minimum Rs 4,000 or A vast network of apple, cherry and but it had been picking up ` Rs 1,800 per kanal and almond orchards spread over 164,000 of late. Growers say they 10,000 Rs 36,000 per hectare. They hectares was buried under more than could have recouped the CRORE were also to get crop insur- three feet of snow, the heaviest in Nov- losses next year, but the J&K’s horticulture ance, but that is yet to hap- ember for some years now. The damage natural calamity has ru- industry; 700,000 pen. “Weather-based insur- is worse for two reasons—there were ined them. Fresh saplings families or 3.5 mn ance was our main demand delays in plucking fruit and pruning will have to be planted, people involved during the meeting with the the trees after militants issued warn- which could take a decade directly or indirectly chief secretary last year,” ings. Managing the tree architecture to bear fruit. says Sheikh Ashiq, president of the Kashmir Chamber of WHITE SCOURGE Farmers inspect fallen trees Commerce and Industry. “But nothing at an apple orchard in Hajin, north Kashmir has happened so far and the farmers will now have to bear the losses. This will affect them for years now.” Deputy director, horticulture, Javid Ahmad Bhat admits the dam- age is worse than it was last year but maintains the loss is around 35 per cent. An accurate door-to-door survey of affected farmers will be conducted within a couple of weeks. But com- pensation, for now, is impossible as it requires big money, says Bhat. “We will frame some schemes for the farmers,” he adds. The J&K government has invited tenders for the much-delayed insurance scheme on November 16. The insurance firms, according to Bhat, were seeking higher premiums, which delayed the implementation of the scheme. n ABID BHAT

DECEMBER 9, 2019 INDIA TODAY 13 STATES

JHARKHAND Missing the Poll Bus The once formidable independent candidates face criminal charges and political eclipse RANCHI By Amitabh Srivastava

adhu Koda, Jharkhand’s only also faces a disproportionate assets former minister in a money-laundering ‘independent’ chief minister, case registered by the Jharkhand vigi- case in January 2017 and handed him a M who ruled the state for about lance department. seven-year prison term. Rai had won the two years between 2006 and 2008, sud- Koda, Harinarayan Rai and Anosh 2009 assembly election, but lost in 2014. denly finds himself out of the electoral Ekka are part of a clutch of once-pow- Ekka won both the assembly polls, race as the five-phase assembly election erful independent MLAs who find them- but his fortunes nosedived after a July kicks off in the state from November 30. selves out of the assembly election race 2018 conviction and life imprisonment Koda had approached the Supreme in Jharkhand. The other two lawmakers for the murder of a para teacher in the Court to challenge his three-year dis- who make up this ‘formidable five’ are run-up to the 2014 assembly poll. His qualification by the Election Commission Kamlesh Singh and Bhanu Pratap Shahi. wife Menon Ekka finished fourth in the (EC) in September 2017 for failing to sub- Rai’s petition seeking the nod to con- December ’18 Kolebira assembly bypoll. mit expense details related to the 2009 test the election was turned down by Shahi, the sitting MLA from Bhawa- Lok Sabha election contest from Singh- the Jharkhand High Court on November nathpur, is contesting the seat on a BJP bhum. On November 15, the court issued 14. An ED special court convicted the ticket, but faces stiff resistance, with a notice to the EC on Koda’s petition. It rivals expected to rake up the corrup- also ruled that pending a response from tion allegations against him. The former the poll panel, Koda could not be allowed THE FIVE LEADERS health minister is being investigated to contest the assembly election. HAVE DETERMINED by the ED in a money-laundering case, Koda, who became chief minister in which saw his assets being attached. September 2006 by toppling the Arjun THE FATE OF His name also figures in a multi-crore Munda-led BJP government, is being SUCCESSIVE medicine scam in the state. probed by the Enforcement Directorate GOVERNMENTS IN Singh, who is state president of the (ED) for alleged money-laundering. He JHARKHAND NCP, last tasted electoral success in the 2005 assembly poll, winning his seat by just 35 votes. He lost the 2009 and 2014 assembly elections. The five veterans of Jharkhand politics wielded enormous clout in the state’s power corridors between March 2005 and December 2009—a period during which the state weathered five governments, including 11 months of president’s rule—and held plum cabinet posts. Successive governments, led by Shibu Soren of the JMM and Munda, made way for the Koda-led government in 2006. Though Soren engineered a split in the ‘formidable five’ to unseat Koda and become chief minister again in August 2008, his government fell within five months as Ekka fielded a candidate against him in a bypoll that he needed to

SOMNATH SEN SOMNATH win to continue as chief minister. n BIG GUNS (Clockwise from left) Koda, Kamlesh Singh, Bhanu Pratap Shahi

NEW INNINGS Uddhav Thackeray COVER STORY MAHARASHTRA COALITION RIDING THE

TIGERUddhav Thackeray’s ability to pursue a governance agenda will be severely constrained . By agreeing with his new allies to soft-pedal , he has signalled his intent to play ball

By Kiran D. Tare

n November 28, more than a month after the results of the assembly election were declared on October 24 and following a week of high political drama, Uddhav Thackeray became the first in his family to become chief minister of Maharashtra. He left the BJP, the Shiv Sena’s ally of 30 years, bargaining for two and a half years of chief minister- ship,O and ended up winning a full term with the help of his political rivals of 30 years, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, under the aegis of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA). The momentousness of the occasion was evident, as an emotional Thackeray told the gathering of 165 MVA lawmakers in Mumbai: “Those I worked with for 30 years betrayed me, but those I fought for 30 years showed trust in me.” It hasn’t been easy by any means so far, and won’t be any easier going forward. Thackeray had

RAFIQ RAFIQ MAQBOOL/AP sensed his opportunity as soon as the election results were declared, and the BJP won only 105 seats, 40 short of the required majority in the 288-member house. At a press conference in the party’s MAHARASHTRA: COALITION PRAMOD THAKUR/GETTY IMAGES

headquarters in Mumbai that day, he had vowed: “Mee Shiv Sharad Pawar and state Congress president Vijay, also Sainikala mukhyamantri karanaarach (I will make a Shiv known as Balasaheb Thorat, decided to give up his party’s Sainik the chief minister).” Never mind that his party had core agenda, Hindutva, the one reason for the Congress’s won 49 seats less than the BJP. reluctance and delay in allying with his party. He also agreed Even before the BJP refused to accede to his demand to give key portfolios, such as home, finance, revenue and for rotating the chief ministership, Thackeray had, in infor- power, to his allies. The chinks ironed out, the way was clear mal interactions with the media, said, “We have all options for Thackeray to become chief minister. open,” perhaps indicating that he was not averse to seeking support from the Congress and the NCP. THE ROAD AHEAD That possibility soon turned into reality as the BJP The battle, however, is only half-won. Thackeray, who has refused to play ball, and Thackeray had to approach Sharad never been a lawmaker, first needs to get elected to the legis- Pawar and Sonia Gandhi for their parties’ support to help lative council. He will be the first Maharashtra chief minister the Sena form the government. It took the alliance close to without any experience in administration and legislature. 25 days to fructify. And just as it did, the BJP orchestrated “There will be several seasoned leaders in Thackeray’s cabi- the farce of installing Devendra Fadnavis as chief minister net,” says Mumbai-based political commentator Hemant with the help of Pawar’s nephew Ajit, who assumed the post Desai. “They are likely to dominate the government, taking of deputy chief minister. advantage of his lack of experience.” With the courts ordering a floor test by November 27, But what Thackeray may lack in experience he makes and Fadnavis realising he could not muster the numbers, up for in political acumen and a can-do spirit. Thackeray’s that government swiftly collapsed. But even as the drama ambition has been evident ever since he came out of the was being played out, Thackeray had, while working out shadows of his charismatic cousin Raj Thackeray and the contours of the coalition government with NCP chief to assume full control of the Sena in 2007,

18 INDIA TODAY DECEMBER 9, 2019 SHOW OF STRENGTH CHALLENGES Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Mallikarjun FOR UDDHAV Kharge of the Congress with MVA MLAs in Mumbai FLOOD ASSISTANCE An immediate challenge is to provide aid to flood- aff ected farmers. About 9.2 million ha. of crops have been damaged. The Shiv Sena, Congress and NCP had demanded an aid of Rs 25,000 per hect- are, which requires a capital of Rs 2,300 crore

LOAN WAIVERS The new government’s agenda includes significant expenditure on loan waivers and support for farm- ers, including Rs 10,000 annually for small farmers. This will invite an expense of Rs 1 lakh crore

BULLET TRAIN The new government may pull out of the Mumbai- Ahmedabad bullet train project. The state is expected to foot Rs 40,000 crore of the total cost, which the government would rather spend on farmers’ welfare. Uddhav Thackeray is also likely to review the allotment of 0.9 hectares at the Bandra- Kurla complex for the bullet train terminus

AAREY COLONY The new CM will have to take a call on the construc- tion of a car shed for the Mumbai Metro’s Line 3 at Aarey Colony. He has been a fierce opponent of the plan, saying in September that the plan would go the same way as the Nanar oil refinery project (shifted as a result of protests). He has demanded the shed be shifted to Kanjurmarg, which officials say will cost an extra Rs 5,000 crore

COASTAL ROAD/ SEA LINK once Balasaheb Thackeray took a backseat from the par- Two major infrastructure projects in Mumbai are ty’s affairs on health grounds (see: The Rise of Uddhav the coastal roadway—connecting south Mumbai to Thackeray). Sena leaders are also confident that Thackeray its northern tip—and the Sewri-Nhava Sheva Sea will prove to be an able administrator. “He is very focused Link project. The former was conceived by the and hardworking, completes whatever he is determined Sena, which is keen to contract the project to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation that it con- to do,” says Dr Neelam Gorhe, deputy chairperson of the trols; but the project requires approvals from the Maharashtra Legislative Council. Union environment ministry, controlled by the BJP. The sea link project, which exists mainly on paper, is owever, the onerous task of managing a coali- another potential deadlock between the Centre and tion with disparate partners will remain. the state government over approvals and funding Thackeray has, for the moment, suppressed the Sena’s Hindutva agenda, but he will have to SOCIAL SCHEMES/ GEN NEXT Hnavigate through several potential flashpoints; the thirst Other challenges include fulfilling poll promises for power will be only one binding factor. The Congress such as providing full meals at Rs 10 to the people of and the NCP have indicated they will insist on 5 per cent Maharashtra. Thackeray will also have to manage reservation for Muslims in educational institutions, but the groups within the Sena—seniors loyal to him Thackeray may not back the idea. The NCP is of the view and the younger leaders closer to Aaditya. Political that cooperative sugar mills and district cooperative banks observers say Milind Narvekar and Varun Sarde- sai—the right-hand men of Uddhav and Aaditya should get financial assistance from the government for respectively—will emerge as parallel power centres their survival. As the Sena does not control any coopera- tive sugar mill or bank, Thackeray may find it difficult to agree to the demand. Both the Congress and NCP want to MAHARASHTRA: COALITION STATE LEADERS TO THE SHIV WATCH OUT FOR SENA STORY , 57 The state NCP president is likely to lead The party has a history of aligning with the party in the government too. Patil has the Congress, but way back in the 1970s. presented 10 budgets in a row as state Its Hindutva drift started only in the ’80s finance minister. A sober face of the NCP, he wields influence in western Maharashtra and its cadre played a dubious role in the 1992-93 Mumbai riots

VIJAY AKA BALASAHEB THORAT, 66 He took over as state Congress president 9 after the party registered its lowest ever tally in Lok Sabha with only one seat. The 2003 veteran is the Congress’s best bet to inject some vigour in the party appoints son Uddhav as party working CHHAGAN BHUJBAL, 72 president to the The veteran NCP legislator is the most dismay of nephew influential OBC leader in the state. His main Raj Thackeray task is to break the OBC vote bank, loyal to the BJP. A taint of money laundering could be his biggest disadvantage 10 11

2004-2009 2012 , 73 The former chief minister is likely to work Sena-BJP alliance fails to Bal Thackeray as the eyes and ears of the Congress high dislodge the Congress-NCP passes away. command in Mumbai. He will also be a government. Raj breaks away Sena comes watchdog, especially for the NCP ministers in 2005 to form the MNS in firmly under 2006. Sena-BJP fail to oust Uddhav Congress-NCP again in 2009 , 77 A confidant of Uddhav Thackeray and an experienced administrator, he is likely to be a strategist and a helping hand for the inexperienced CM. He’ll be a bridge revive Agriculture Produce Market Committees (APMCs), between the government and the party as a means to assert their control over the rural economy. APMCs were as good as abolished by the Fadnavis govern- ment. The Union government, too, has been keen on cur- , 58 tailing APMCs following the introduction of the National Executive editor of Shiv Sena mouthpiece Agriculture Market, or e-NAM. The Sena’s alliance part- Saamna, he will be responsible for the government’s image. He will be the link ners are likely to mount pressure on Thackeray to oppose man for the three alliance partners the Centre’s proposal. NCP Mumbai president Nawab Malik, however, says the MVA government will iron out differences along the DEVENDRA FADNAVIS, 49 way. “The Shiv Sena became a hardcore Hindutva party Hurt by the Shiv Sena’s only after it came in contact with the BJP. I do not antici- ‘backstabbing’, Fadnavis will be more pate clashes amongst the allies as we understand each aggressive than before. With his other better,” says Malik. network of informers, he could corner the government on any issue A Sena leader says Thackeray is expected to draft poli- cies to improve living conditions in 15 municipal corpora- tion cities, including Mumbai, Thane, Pune, Nashik and , 60 Aurangabad, where the party hopes to outperform the The state BJP president will be tasked BJP in future. Thackeray’s vision for Mumbai includes with re-energising the party’s cadre after creating ample space for playgrounds and gardens. This, its humiliating exit from the government, however, will require altering the city’s development plan besides rehabilitating leaders like Eknath sanctioned by the previous government. Fadnavis had Khadse, and 1 2 3

JUNE 19, 1966 1971 1975 1984 Political cartoonist Bal Sena allies with the Thackeray supports Sena and BJP tie up for Thackeray launches the Shiv Congress (O) faction imposition of the general election. Sena to champion the cause opposed to Indira Gandhi in Emergency. Backs Amid a Congress wave, 4 of Maharashtrians with a rally the Lok Sabha poll. All three Congress (I) in the 1977 both Sena candidates, at Shivaji Park, Dadar. Party Sena candidates lose. The Lok Sabha and the contesting on the BJP targets ‘outsiders’, including party makes inroads in Left- 1980 Maharashtra symbol, lose. Sena’s South Indians, in Mumbai controlled labour unions assembly election Hindutva drift begins

8 7 6 5

1999 1995 DEC. 1992-JAN. 1993 1990 Sena-BJP fail to get Sena-BJP sweep Two phases of rioting in Sena and BJP majority in the assembly aside Sharad Pawar’s Bombay after the Babri Masjid emerge as principal poll. Congress ties Congress-led regime in demolition. Justice Srikrishna opposition parties, up with Pawar’s NCP the polls to form a coalition Commission in 1996 blames displacing the PWP splinter group to form a government. Manohar Sena leaders for instigating and the Janata government Joshi is first Sena-BJP CM riots and targeting Muslims Party factions

12 13

2014 OCT. 21, 2019 The BJP breaks away from the Sena Sena-BJP jointly fight assembly election. The BJP emerges as the to contest assembly polls on its own, single-largest party with 105 seats, but the Sena, with 56 seats, asks emerges as the single-largest party. for rotation of the CM’s post. BJP refuses. Sena sets up Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis is appointed CM Vikas Aghadi with the Congress and NCP, with Uddhav as leader. After and is briefly supported by the NCP. a short-lived Fadnavis government, the decks are cleared for Uddhav Sena returns to the alliance to be the first Thackeray CM

fast-tracked metro rail projects. The Metro-3 project, Directorate (BDD) chawls in Worli, which now house police connecting Colaba in south Mumbai to Santacruz in the constabulary. With son Aaditya elected as an MLA from north, is scheduled for completion by the end of 2021. The Worli, this could be a key project of the new government. new government will need to keep the project on track. Farmers and the rural economy are the thrust areas in the MVA’s common minimum programme. Thackeray has ontrol of the Mantralaya should give Thackeray already promised financial assistance to farmers affected an opportunity to fulfil two of his cherished by floods and a complete waiver of farmers’ loans. Crop dreams. First, a world-class theme park at insurance for farmers remains a sticky issue, and the Sena the Mahalaxmi Racecourse. As per rules, the had earlier warned private insurance companies to set- Cstate government can take control of the land as its lease tle such claims on time or face an agitation. The NCP’s has expired. Thackeray favours greater autonomy for the Dhananjay Munde suggests the Madhya Pradesh model Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), ruled by of crop insurance in the state. “If a farmer invests Rs 1,400 the Sena since 1997. He wants to see Mumbai’s mayor on his crop and earns Rs 1,000 from the produce, the gov- wielding greater powers, on the lines of the mayor of New ernment should pay the difference, of Rs 400, and not the York. At present, Mumbai is governed by seven state and entire amount of Rs 1,400. That will reduce the govern- central agencies. Thackeray would prefer a single nodal ment’s financial burden, too,” he says. agency. “Ideally, it should be the BMC,” suggests senior Sena leader Diwakar Raote. FUNDS CRUNCH Thackeray’s other priority in Mumbai would be the Several of the Sena’s populist poll promises, such as a full meal redevelopment of koliwadas (settlements of fishing com- at Rs 10 through 10,000 eateries, clinics offering screen- munities, who are Sena loyalists). He has also been demand- ing for some 200 ailments at Re 1, and a 30 per cent cut in ing redevelopment of the British-era Bombay Development power tariffs for domestic users, threaten to further drain a

DECEMBER 9, 2019 INDIA TODAY 21 FIRST AMONG EQUALS Uddhav Thackeray with MAHARASHTRA: COALITION supporters in Mumbai, November 26

THE RISE OF UDDHAV THACKERAY n the meeting room on the ground floor of his residence, ‘Matoshree’, in Mumbai, Uddhav Thackeray has a white acrylic I MANDAR DEODHAR stand on his table. It has the words ‘I like people who get things done’ in- rebuilding the Sena as a party that pal Corporation (BMC), Thackeray scribed on it. It’s a simple exposition believed in inclusive development started implementing his vision for of the Shiv Sena chief’s philosophy. rather than being known as a party the city. He made the BMC con- The youngest of Balasaheb Thac- of stone-pelters. In 2003, Thac- struct tunnels instead of pipelines to keray’s three sons, Uddhav Thac- keray launched a campaign called carry drinking water and set up three keray, now 59, was happy pursuing ‘Mee Mumbaikar’, aimed at including pumping stations to prevent the city his passion for wildlife photography people of all religions and regions in from flooding in the monsoons. It’s when the Shiv Sena-BJP govern- the development of Mumbai. He also a different matter that the stations ment came to power for the first time started touring the state in an attempt prove useful only if the rainfall is in 1995. A quiet person by nature, to widen his acceptability among the moderate, and Thackeray and the whenever party workers urged him Shiv Sena leaders and cadre. BMC become the subject of criticism to deliver a speech, he would pass on That became a point of contention whenever the city gets flooded. the responsibility to his charismatic between him and Raj, who expected Since 2009, Thackeray has also cousin Raj. However, when his eldest Thackeray to stay away from ‘his been rooting for loan waivers for brother Bindumadhav died in a road territory’, consisting of Thane, Pune Maharashtra’s farmers. When Sharad accident in 1996, Thackeray came and Nashik. Around the same time, Pawar was president of the Board to stay with his father at Matoshree, Thackeray began dictating terms to of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), where Smita Thackeray, wife of sec- former chief minister Narayan Rane, Thackeray criticised him for allowing ond brother Jaidev, called the shots. asserting his authority in the party. day and night matches in the IPL while Thackeray’s interest in politics, Both Rane and Raj quit the Sena farmers were struggling to get elec- however, began only in 1999 when in 2005. Thackeray assumed full tricity at night. “I don’t understand the Sena-BJP lost to the Congress- control of the party in late 2007 after anything about farming, but I know Nationalist Congress Party combine. Balasaheb stopped stepping out of how to wipe out farmers’ sorrows,” In the next five years, he emerged Matoshree on account of ill health. he says whenever asked about his as Balasaheb’s chosen heir and was “Uddhav has freed the Sena of the vision for agriculture. Thackeray’s appointed executive president of the gang of extortionists” was Balasa- opposition to a chemical refinery and party in 2003. Thackeray may have heb’s biggest compliment to his son. nuclear power project in Konkan, been shy and soft-spoken, but had With absolute control over the however, have painted him as an anti- very clear ideas. He was keen on party and the Brihanmumbai Munici- industry politician.

state already reeling under a debt of Rs 4.85 lakh crore (see: job-oriented curriculum that would stay relevant for the Challenges for Uddhav). Thackeray will also need to reas- next 25 years. sess the previous government’s water conservation scheme, Thackeray’s sour relations with elder brother Jaidev the Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan. Towards the end of Fadnavis’s and cousin Raj have always been talking points in political tenure, the scheme drew criticism for having allegedly circles. His legal battle with Jaidev over their late father’s become pro-contractor. property is well-known. Already, workers of the Raj-led Thackeray will be under pressure to overhaul the edu- Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) have started a whis- cation system as well. During his statewide Jan Ashirwad per campaign that the time has come for the estranged Yatra in August-September, son Aaditya had promised cousins to patch up. In a season of alliances, will this be ample employment opportunities for the youth and a another possibility for Thackeray to explore? n

22 INDIA TODAY DECEMBER 9, 2019

COVER STORY MAHARASHTRA BJP LOSING THE PLOT Its desperate moves to engineer defections have exposed the BJP’s tall claims to being a principled party. The RSS too is unhappy with ‘the moral drift’ but has kept a tactical silence

By Uday Mahurkar

MANDAR DEODHAR

LAST WORDS Devendra Fadnavis at the press meet on November 26 DOWN, BUT he formation of the second Devendra Fad- navis government had led to jubilation in the BJP camp. Even its embarrassing fail- NOT OUT ure, the arrival and exit of Ajit Pawar, didn’t Devendra Fadnavis may yet get cause much disappointment. There was a a lifeline from the party senseT of self-righteousness—the rank and file felt the ven after his resignation on November Shiv Sena had betrayed the mandate of the people by 26, Devendra Fadnavis was closeted with joining hands with the NCP-Congress. So any skull- senior BJP leaders through the day at his duggery on the BJP’s part was par for the course. official residence ‘Varsha’. He attended What did rankle, though, was the clumsiness of the operation. E a meeting of BJP legislators at the Garware Club A section of party workers have started to question the political inside the iconic Wankhede stadium in the night acumen of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister where everyone resolved the party would play Amit Shah and ex-chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. While Fad- the role of a responsible opposition. n avis, in his statement on November 26, took the blame on his Fadnavis has set two contrasting records shoulders, the responsibility for the fiasco stops at the door of Modi. against his name in the past few months—become That the prime minister invoked special provisions—Rule 12 of the the first non-Congress Maharashtra CM to com- GoI (Transaction of Business) Rules, 1961—to end President’s rule plete a full term, and also the shortest serving in Maharashtra and clear the way for the Fadnavis-Ajit Pawar tie- one, with his 80-hour second stint. up raises questions on the misuse of special provisions to capture Fadnavis was elected leader of the BJP power. That the BJP failed to carry it through compounds matters. legislative party on October 30 and it is almost It’s certain that the Maharashtra episode has dented the Modi- certain he will get the post of leader of the oppo- Shah duo’s political credibility. Worse, it has sullied the BJP’s claims sition in the legislative assembly. If so, it will be a to the high moral ground and departure from the precedent set so far in states of ushering in probity in pub- where the BJP has lost power (Rajasthan, MP EVEN THE RSS lic life. Especially since Ma- and Chhattisgarh) where new leaders have been BRASS WAS harashtra is only the latest in given an opportunity in the post. Indeed, ex-chief a series of attempts at gov- ministers there were asked to go back to the par- REPORTEDLY ernment formation through ty organisation. The plan in Maharashtra seems to CLUELESS defections and horse-trading. be to pit a fiery Fadnavis against an inexperienced ABOUT THE In the past five years, the BJP Uddhav Thackeray to corner the government. The has tried the same tactics in BJP think-tank believes that Fadnavis, with his SWEARING-IN Uttarakhand, Goa, Karna- experience as CM, is well placed to do this. OF FADNAVIS taka, Manipur, Arunachal Meanwhile, Fadnavis has few friends left in Pradesh and Meghalaya. the state unit of the party. He enjoyed the sup- AND AJIT PAWAR The BJP’s return to the port of Prime Min is ter Narendra Modi during his ‘Aaya Ram, gaya Ram’ era tenure, which many in the party believe made (which marked Haryana’s him autocratic. He sideli ned seniors like Eknath murky politics in the 1970s and ’80s) has worried the party’s ideo- Khadse, Vinod Tawde, Prakash Mehta and also logical parent, the RSS. But it can’t make a fuss, because the party created hurdles for the influential Pankaja Munde. has also delivered on two key Sangh planks—abrogating Article These leaders might gang up against him. Khadse 370 in J&K and facilitating the building of the Ram Mandir in has already let loose. “If those who have dedica- Ayodhya. “There is a clear dichotomy between the BJP’s talk of ted their lives for the party’s growth had been clean governance and the defection politics it has been playing,” given due respect, we would have won 25 more says a senior RSS leader. “But the way Modi and Shah have imple- seats,” he said on November 27. He also blasted mented the RSS national agenda makes it difficult for us to express Fadnavis for joining hands with the tainted Ajit our displeasure openly. Our lips are sealed.” Pawar. “We should have sold the evidence in the The disconnect between the BJP and RSS can be gleaned irrigation scam as scrap a long time ago. There from the fact that top RSS leaders (including, reportedly, sarsang- was a good price for this scrap in the market hchalak Mohan Bhagwat) were clueless about the early morning then,” Khadse said. swearing-in of Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, and that too in a state New CM Uddhav Thackeray has said his where the RSS is headquartered. government will not rock the boat too much. But The missteps and the fading lustre of the BJP are also visible sources say several Fadnavis projects like the Jal on the ground—the loss of several states is graphically represented Yukta Shivar Abh iyan and loan waiver to farmers in a recent cartographic meme showing how the saffron territory may be reviewed. —Kiran D. Tare has shrunk from 71 to 40 per cent of the map of India since 2017. What has jolted the party even more is the realisation that even MAHARASHTRA: BJP

The Saffron Retreat December The BJP’s footprint in states has shrunk 2017 to 40 per cent from 71 per cent in 2017

There are 4,033 BJP occupies assembly seats in the % 1,323 seats country (excluding J&K’s 33 87) across 28 states and It is in power in two LG-ruled states—Delhi 16 states and Puducherry

It rules as a BJP rules on its senior coalition own strength partner in 2 November states in 10 states 2019 90 40 Haryana Himachal Pradesh 68 44 126 61 Assam Uttarakhand 70 56

Uttar Pradesh 403 311 It rules as a junior coalition 182 103 partner in four Jharkhand 81 44 states

Tripura 60 36 60 12 Nagaland Manipur 60 31 60 2 Meghalaya Goa 40 27 32 12 Sikkim Karnataka 224 105 243 54 Bihar Arunachal Pradesh 60 41 Total assembly seats BJP seats

emotive national security and social issues like Article 370 nationalist agenda in the shortest possible time, and for that and the triple talaq bill can’t win state elections when power- we cannot have bottlenecks. This is Chanakya niti, pure and ful local issues and economic distress come into play. simple...it might not click sometimes, like in Maharashtra.” Interestingly, the Modi-Shah duo’s tactics are not new. Even as Gujarat chief minister, Modi liked to launch a ‘surgi- THE DEFECTIONS GAME cal strike’ before an election, enticing one or two key opposi- Many veteran partymen, though, disagree. Says one such tion leaders into the BJP. In Delhi, though, forming state BJP leader: “Even Chanakya would have been rattled by the governments through defections, allegedly diluting CBI and way in which tainted leaders have been admitted into the Enforcement Directorate (ED) cases against such leaders party in the name of expanding our base.” A prime example and other such measures have become a regular feature. of this is in Jharkhand, where one of the main accused in the Sources close to the Modi-Shah duo justify the strategy Rs 131 crore health department scam in the Madhu Koda of denying power to the opposition, saying an ‘unhindered government (2006-08), then minister Bhanu Pratap Shahi, path’ is essential to implementing the BJP’s nationalist agen- was inducted into the party in October. Shahi has over four da, including good governance. Plus, they want to starve the dozen cases against him and has been to jail in the health opposition, particularly the Congress, of funds. Keeping the scam. After the last assembly election in Jharkhand, the BJP other side out of power is key to this. had got six opposition MLAs to defect in February 2015 in A party source close to Shah says, “This is part of our a bid to have a stable government. long-term plan for the nation. We want to implement the The same script played out in West Bengal where ex-

26 INDIA TODAY DECEMBER 9, 2019 Graphic by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY TMC leaders like who have switched sides have seen a go-slow in corruption cases against them after shifting to the BJP. In Telangana, two tainted Rajya Sabha MPs of the TDP who defected played an important role in managing the floor in the passage of the triple talaq and J&K bills. ANI ALL OUT IN THE NORTHEAST SHORT LIVED (L-R) Fadnavis, Governor B.S. Koshyari The defection game started in right earnest in the Northeast and Ajit Pawar at the oath-taking ceremony, Nov. 23 with Arunachal Pradesh in 2016 where the party first broke the Congress, and then its own ally, the People’s Party of Coincidentally, even as it was luring the Congress MLAs Arunachal (PPA), to form the government. The same leader, in Goa, it was also pulling the rug from under the Congress- , continues, but as a BJP chief minister. The JD(S) government in Karnataka. In July 2019, the government same tactic continues, and the party now rules alone or is collapsed as 17 MLAs (14 Congress and 3 JD-S) resigned in part of the governing coalition in all seven Northeast states. one week. Subsequently, all the 17 MLAs were disqualified by In the Manipur assembly election in 2017, the Con- then Karnataka assembly speaker Ramesh Kumar and barred gress emerged the single largest party with 28 seats in the from contesting bypolls. The matter reached the Supreme 60-member house. The BJP won 21 seats, yet the governor Court, which eventually allowed the 17 MLAs to contest the invited it. It cobbled support from the bypolls. Of them, 16 are now BJP members; smaller regional parties to form the gov- 13 are contesting the December 5 byelections. ernment. Later, the BJP got six Congress THE MODI-SHAH Among them are Ballari mine owner Anand MLAs and a lone TMC MLA to defect to Singh, who is returning to the saffron fold af- cross the majority mark comfortably. In DUO JUSTIFY ter a stint in the Congress; he has 15 criminal 2018 in Meghalaya, after the elections, THEIR METHODS, cases against him, including for illegal mining. the Congress emerged as the single larg- Another candidate, Byrathi Basavaraj, is being est party with 21 seats in the 60-mem- ARGUING investigated by the Lokayukta in land-grab and ber House. But the BJP, with just two THAT AN corruption cases. Several BJP leaders have op- MLAs, worked to get together the Na- ‘UNHINDERED posed the candidature of K. Gopalaiah as they tional People’s Party (19 seats) and other suspect his brother’s involvement in a murder smaller regional parties and formed the PATH’ IS case. While in the Opposition, the BJP had government. NECESSARY TO targeted all these leaders, but has conveniently In the Northeast, the common link IMPLEMENT forgotten those issues now. in all the negotiations has been Assam Attempts had been made to lure opp- finance minister and North-East Demo- THE PARTY’S osition MLAs from the time the Congress- cratic Alliance convenor Himanta Biswa NATIONALIST JD(S) government was formed. In February Sarma, a former Congressman who is now 2019, then CM H.D. Kumaraswamy of the Shah’s most trusted lieutenant. Sarma, AGENDA JD(S) had even released an audio tape in thanks to his wide personal network in which BJP leader B.S. Yediyurappa is allegedly the hill states, reached out to opposition heard luring JD(S) MLAs with money. The MLAs personally and was key in getting them to cross over. tape caused major embarrassment to the BJP, with the state ordering an SIT probe into it. But even with all the develop- A COUNTRYWIDE STRATEGY ments of the past two years, BJP spokesperson Nalin Kohli Meanwhile, back in the mainland, it was the Uttarakhand says it’s all about who plays the defection politics game better: crisis in 2016 that was creating ripples. The BJP pulled down “The rules of this game were not invented by the BJP. What the Harish Rawat government by engineering defections from the party has shown is that it is adept at playing by these rules. the Congress and imposed President’s rule before the courts It’s a case of a diamond cutting a diamond.” restored the government. In the 2017 election, the BJP finally Interestingly, in a lighter vein, Union MoS for consumer won but with 11 turncoat Congress leaders in its ranks. affairs, food and public distribution Raosaheb Danve made Goa was next on the list. After the 2017 election, the BJP a comment on the ‘defections’ issue a few months ago while with 13 seats stole a march on the Congress, which had 17 delivering a speech in Jalna, Maharashtra. “The BJP,” he said, seats, by luring opposition MLAs and formed the government “has a washing machine. Before taking anyone into the party, with a thin majority in the 40-member house. This year, in we wash them in the machine. We use the Nirma powder of July, the party got 10 Congress MLAs to defect, raising the Gujarat, it cleans them.” The last line perhaps alluded to Modi BJP tally to 27 in the house just when it seemed like the gov- and Shah. But the issue now is that the politics of defection has ernment was on thin ice following the death of chief minister crossed all limits in the BJP. Both the machine and powder . could be ineffective soon.n

DECEMBER 9, 2019 INDIA TODAY 27 DAMAGE CONTROL Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray at a press conference in Mumbai on November 23 INDRANILMUKHERJEE/GETTY IMAGES

COVER STORY MAHARASHTRA olitics may be the art of the possible. SHARAD PAWAR How else does one account for what happened on November 25 at Mum- bai’s Hyatt Hotel. Fifty-six MLAs of the Shiv Sena took an oath of loyalty toP Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar and Congress president Sonia STAYING Gandhi, besides their own chief, Uddhav Thac- keray. Till a month ago, the Sena’s politics had revolved around bitter opposition to the NCP and the Congress, often descending into personal PAWAR attacks directed at their party chiefs. And now, if The shrewd NCP boss this incredible moment was playing out on televi- demonstrated his political skill sion, it was all because of the political acumen, and stamina in brokering an perseverance and networking skills of Pawar, the original strongman of Maharashtra politics. alliance between the Congress and the Shiv Sena—and then “It is a good opportunity for me to rebuild the party seeing off the BJP’s attempt to with young leaders,” Pawar, 79, had told india today on October 6, even as his party was coming to terms with the win over his own MLAs defection of seven MLAs to the BJP and the Sena in the run-up to the October 21 Maharashtra assembly election. The morale in the NCP was down, and several of Pawar’s friends were reluctant to fund the party in its hour of crisis. By Kiran D. Tare and Kaushik Deka To make matters worse, the BJP, particularly incumbent chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, had created an electoral buzz with the ‘Mee Punha Yein (I shall return)’ slogan. On October 8, Pawar embarked on a statewide tour. In the next 10 days, he addressed 57 rallies, covering an average 300 km a day. His stage presence changed—there was a new body language and the speeches turned sharper and more colourful. At one gathering, Pawar wondered whether party in the state. Yet, Sonia and her team went slow on the nego- those who had deserted the NCP were wearing bangles tiations because, as a Congress leader put it, there was a lot to play while in power for 15 years. In Satara, he was pictured for if the deal was bargained well. Besides, given the coalition expe- addressing the crowd in pouring rain. At another rally, rience in Karnataka, the party was wary of dealing with another he imitated a transgender to underpin the point that the ‘incompatible’ ally. The lingering discussions with Pawar gave the rival parties were no match. “Aata he mala shikavnaar BJP a chance to poach NCP leader Ajit Pawar. (They are trying to teach me),” he said. An NCP insider says Sharad Pawar was shaken by nephew Pawar’s statewide tour raised the pitch of the elec- Ajit Pawar’s rebellion. Ajit took oath as Devendra Fadnavis’s tion campaign and brought him back to the centre stage deputy in the surprise installation of a BJP-led government early of Maharashtra politics. What also galvanised Pawar morning on November 23. Pawar learnt about the move when and the NCP was the money-laundering case related NCP MLA Rajendra Shingne called him at 6 am to say he was to the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank scam that going to Raj Bhavan with Ajit. Pawar deputed senior party leaders the Enforcement Directorate (ED) registered against Jayant Patil, Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse-Patil to convince him. Pawar called a press conference on September the 15 rebels to return to the party fold. He also got Ajit sacked as 25 to declare he would present himself before the ED NCP legislative party leader. two days later. Looking to invoke Maratha pride, he With social media abuzz with theories that Ajit was Pawar’s drew parallels between the Mughal sultanate and the plant in the BJP, Pawar quickly went into a huddle with Sena Narendra Modi government and vowed “not to bow chief Uddhav Thackeray and state Congress president Balasaheb before Delhi”. Later, Pawar tweeted that he planned to Thorat. They managed to trace all the NCP rebels and corralled go to the ED office alone. It was an indirect message to them in a five-star hotel in Bandra. In an unusual act, Pawar also his supporters to join him there. Senior Mumbai police got all MVA lawmakers to take an oath that they would remain officials requested Pawar not to visit the ED office in loyal to their respective parties. Nawab Malik, the NCP’s Mumbai Mumbai as it could create a law and order problem. As a president, says Pawar Maharashtra BJP MP had then predicted about the ED made the impossible summons: “Our party has activated a lifeline for Sharad possible. “The moment Pawar. This decision will haunt us in the future.” GETTING THE Pawar declared he The Maharashtra assembly election results made it CONGRESS ON would ensure that none clear that Pawar had overcome the odds and emerged of the MLAs is disquali- politically stronger. The NCP won 54 seats, 13 more BOARD WAS FAR fied, the situation came than it did in the 2014 assembly poll. That the party FROM EASY, GIVEN under control. Only a had contested just 117 seats this time, against 250 in SONIA’S DISTRUST master strategist could 2014, and secured the second highest vote share among have achieved this.” all parties says something for Pawar’s strike rate and the OF PAWAR AND There is speculation traction his election campaign got. HER WARINESS about why Pawar agreed Getting the Congress to join a Sena-led govern- to entrust the chief min- ment, under the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) ABOUT THE SENA istership to the Sena for alliance, was a challenge even for Pawar. There the entire five-year term were several barriers: Sonia’s distrust of Pawar, the when he could have bar- Congress’s ideological reservations about aligning gained for an equal share for his own party. An NCP leader says with a pro-Hindutva party, and the need for an accept- Pawar is keener on bagging plum portfolios, such as home, finance able power-sharing formula. Some Congress leaders and water resources. The leader points out that Pawar had given were apprehensive that the alliance would hurt the up claim to the chief minister’s post in 2004 as well, when the NCP party in north India—especially Bihar, Uttar Pradesh won two seats more (71) than the Congress. and Delhi—since the Sena is viewed as anti-migrant. At the NCP meeting on November 17 in Pune, Pawar’s close As a Congress general secretary says, on condition of aides Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare and Dhananjay Munde had anonymity, “It’s a grave mistake. The NCP doesn’t have backed Ajit’s idea to support the BJP. Perhaps, his long-term much to lose, but what will we tell our voters? How are vision for his party and politics in India made Pawar discard the we different from the BJP? It (the alliance) has taken idea. The BJP’s record of managing allies has not been encour- away our last political plank.” aging. With the Congress facing a leadership crisis and oppo- Several Congressmen, including a senior Muslim sition leaders like Mamata Banerjee, Mayawati and Akhilesh leader, advised Sonia to yield to Pawar, who was ready Yadav struggling to retain their turfs, Pawar perhaps saw the to negotiate with the Sena for a fair Congress share Maharashtra crisis as an opportunity to emerge as an opposition in the power distribution. Among the reasons why leader who can beat the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo at their Sonia came on board was the SOS from the Congress’s own game. By bringing together two most incompatible partners, Maharashtra unit—given the prevailing funds crunch, he emerged as the new rallying point for anti-BJP forces. Enough another five years away from power could wipe out the reason for a desperate opposition to seek a saviour in him. n

DECEMBER 9, 2019 INDIA TODAY 29 STATE OF THE STATES AWARDS

STATE OF THE STATES CHANDRADEEP KUMAR CHANDRADEEP THE WINNING SET THE AWARD CEREMONY SAW CHIEF MINISTERS OUTLINING THEIR VISIONS FOR DEVELOPMENT AND STATE MINISTERS ELABORATING ON THEIR SUCCESS MANTRAS

By Rahul Noronha Chairman and Editor-in Chief, India Today Group, Aroon Purie (centre left), Union minister for Information & Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar (centre) and Group Editorial Director (Publishing) Raj Chengappa (right) with the award-winners

auding the ample display of the spirit of cooper- ative federalism between the states, the Union “The State of the States awards repre- minister for information & broadcasting, envi- sent what cooperative federalism is all ronment & forests and heavy industries, Prakash about. While states assist each other, L Javadekar, while delivering the keynote address they also compete with each other” at the 17th edition of the India Today Group’s annual State of the States award ceremony, said that healthy competition between the states was a hallmark of democra- PRAKASH cy. “The State of the States awards represent what ‘coopera- JAVADEKAR tive federalism’ is all about. While the states assist each other, Union minister they also compete with each other,” he said at the award cere- for information mony, held at the ITC Maurya hotel in New Delhi on & broadcasting, November 23. environment & forests and heavy Highlighting the many perspectives that make up the real- industries ity of our country, he said that as long as media houses remain

DECEMBER 9, 2019 INDIA TODAY 31 STATE OF THE STATES AWARDS

STATE OF THE STATES

objective, they would continue to enjoy “Our efforts have led to the public trust. Reiterating this point— that the media should try to cover strong governance and events from all angles to ensure the accountability, which India truth of what they publish, he said: “All Today has recognised as the sides of the story should be covered. I best in the country” trust the India Today Group to do that.” ASHOK GEHLOT Before his address, India Today Chief Minister, Rajasthan Group Editorial Director (Publishing) Raj Chengappa, in his welcome address, expanded on the methodology of the state of the states survey. This year’s survey—which, as in past edi- “Every effort is being made tions, ranks India’s states on a range of to provide quality health parameters—has over 200 attributes services—like the HimCare on which the states are judged. Among scheme we have launched” the big states, Tamil Nadu emerged as the best-performing, while Assam Chief Minister, Himachal Pradesh topped the most-improved list. Goa was the best-performing small state, while Tripura took the award for most-improved. “All villages in [the state] are efore the awards were being connected by roads, distributed, five chief and the rail network will soon ministers—Rajasthan’s reach strategic and tourist Ashok Gehlot, Himachal destinations such as Tawang” B Pradesh’s Jai Ram PEMA KHANDU Thakur, Arunachal Chief Minister, Arunachal Pradesh Pradesh’s Pema Khandu, Puducherry’s V. Narayanasamy and Manipur’s N. Biren Singh—laid out their roadmaps for inclusive development in their try cannot states. Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot— f only some states whose state won the award for best governance—listed the achievements ped and others are of his administration, but also spoke of veloped. We need the uncertainty that bedevils the coun- olution for this” try and the economy. “The present situ- NASAMY ation in India is worrisome,” he said. Puducherry “People are living in fear of uncertainty. This is not conducive for democracy.” His counterpart from Himachal Pradesh—the best-performing big state in education and healthcare—Jai “Two and a half years ago, Ram Thakur said that India’s image on Prime Minister Narendra Modiji the global stage had changed for good challenged us to achieve in 15 under the leadership of Prime Minister months what the Congress Narendra Modi. “Ever since 1947, could not achieve in 15 years” when the country became indepen- dent, there had been a state with two N. BIREN SINGH flags,” he said, referring to the August Chief Minister, Manipur 5 abrogation of Article 370 in the

32 INDIA TODAY DECEMBER 9, 2019 (L-R) Jai Vardhan Singh, K. Keshava Rao, Saurabh Patel, Manpreet Badal, Chandra Mohan Patowary, Sandeep Singh, Pratap Jena and Ravindra Chaubey

CHANDRADEEP KUMAR The Minister’s Mantras

RAVINDRA CHAUBEY motivated to work hard every day, sporting achievement. My mantra Minister for Agriculture and [long-term] development is not is to not feel satisfied at any time— Water Resources, Chhattisgarh possible. MP is fortunate to have a that will be the end of your career” “Policies should keep in mind the CM who has all these attributes” poorest of the poor. Our focus has CHANDRA MOHAN PATOWARY been on health, tackling malnutri- PRATAP JENA Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, tion and remunerative prices for Minister for Panchayats, Industry, Commerce and Transport, farmers for their produce” Housing and Law, Odisha Assam “The main drive for development “Our focus for development is SAURABH PATEL in Odisha is Naveen babu. He has leadership, vision, hard work Minister for Energy, Gujarat been elected CM for the fifth time. and tackling corruption. The prime “Our mantra is financial discipline. We believe in transparency, time- minister works 18 hours a day, and Gujarat is probably the only state bound action and honesty” so does our chief minister. He has that has kept borrowings [low], at given us four mantras: zero toler- ance to extremism, to infiltration, 16.5 per cent of GSDP when 27.1 K. KESHAVA RAO per cent is allowed. [Our] fiscal Member of Parliament from Telangana to corruption and to pollution” deficit has been pegged at 2.1 per “We focus on hard, never-ending cent when 3 per cent is allowed” work. With the growing aspirations SATYENDRA JAIN Minister for Home, Health and of people, hard work has to go on Industries, Delhi MANPREET BADAL constantly. Growth should not be Minister for Finance, Punjab seen purely in economic terms—it “All decisions should be taken “The issue of stagnant resources is important to measure how well it keeping the people in mind. Public affects all states. The power to reaches the people. Telangana has money should be spent on the tax is saturated. We must do more a system of social audits for that” public. The government is the with less. Our focus is how to custodian of public money” charge for quality services and SANDEEP SINGH how to harness technology to Minister for Sports, Haryana KUNGA NIMA LEPCHA deliver services” Minister for Education, Sikkim “I have one aim; to build sta- diums that can support six or “We have focused on health and JAI VARDHAN SINGH seven sporting disciplines—and are education. We are addressing the Minister for Urban Administration and maintenance-free—in rural areas dwindling enrolment in primary Housing, Madhya Pradesh because 70 per cent of medal win- education—residential schools are “Our priorities are hard work, mo- ners come from rural areas. I want being promoted—and we are also tivation and vision. Unless one is to take Haryana to the pinnacle of pushing for organic farming. We are also promoting health tourism”

DECEMBER 9, 2019 INDIA TODAY 33 STATE OF THE STATES AWARDS

STATE OF THE STATES

WINNERS BIG STATES erstwhile state of Jammu & Kashmir and its BEST MOST division into two Union territories. “Now, CATEGORY PERFORMING IMPROVED STATE STATE from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, there is only one flag—the tricolour.”

Overall Tamil Nadu Assam he chief minister of Economy Gujarat Assam Arunachal Pradesh—whose state won the most-improved Infrastructure Punjab Madhya Pradesh awards among small states T for infrastructure, education Agriculture Punjab Madhya Pradesh and law & order—Pema Education Himachal Pradesh Jharkhand Khandu said that the country’s north east had changed fundamentally in the past five Healthcare Himachal Pradesh Andhra Pradesh years thanks to the strengthening of its road Law & Order Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu network. “Connectivity, a major issue in our state, is now being taken care of. All villages Governance Rajasthan Telangana are being connected with roads and places Inclusive like Tawang are being connected to the rail Development Andhra Pradesh Chhattisgarh network,” he said, adding that the country’s smaller states, instead of asking the central Entrepreneurship Haryana Haryana government for funds, should attempt to Tourism Kerala Andhra Pradesh rely on their own resources. However, Puducherry’s V. Environment Kerala West Bengal Narayanasamy—whose state was the best performing among small states in health- Cleanliness Kerala Odisha care and entrepreneurship—urged the cen- tral government not to ignore the smaller Jammu & Kashmir was not considered as its political status changed states when it came to the allocation of grants that support territorial budgets. WINNERS SMALL STATES “The country cannot progress if you have some states developed and others under- BEST MOST developed. This is a core issue that we need CATEGORY PERFORMING IMPROVED to find a solution for,” he said. STATE STATE Manipur’s chief minister N. Biren Singh—whose state won the most- Overall Goa Tripura improved award for inclusive development among small states—said that his admin- Economy Goa Mizoram istration had been successful in address- Infrastructure Goa Arunachal Pradesh ing the insurgency and drug problem that had bedevilled his state in the past. “Prime Agriculture Tripura Tripura Minister Modiji had set a challenge before me during the election campaign two and Education Sikkim Arunachal Pradesh a half years ago,” he said. “The prime min- Healthcare Puducherry Mizoram ister said that our BJP government had to achieve in 15 months what the previous Law & Order Nagaland Arunachal Pradesh Congress government could not achieve Governance Delhi Sikkim in 15 years.” After the awards were distributed, a Inclusive panel comprising nine ministers from win- Development Mizoram Manipur ning states and a member of Parliament Entrepreneurship Puducherry Nagaland spoke of their priorities when it came to the development of their respective states. n Tourism Goa Mizoram —with Gulam Jeelani Environment Mizoram Goa Cleanliness Goa Nagaland

HOW TO EARN CREDIT l MERITS OF GOOD CREDIT HISTORY l TAX-FREE GIFTING l HEALTH INSURANCE FOR THE ELDERLY

Illustration by SIDDHANT JUMDE SMART MONEY CREDIT SCORE

THE REWARDS OF BEING A GOOD BORROWER A good credit history pays off with lower interest charges

ood credit habits can Syndicate Bank and UCO these cases, the credit score and repayment behaviour,” lead to big savings. Bank are some prominent remains crucial in determin- says Anuj Kacker, COO and GFrom October 1 this banks that have already ing the risk premium. co-founder, MoneyTap. year, all floating-rate retail begun using credit scores to Banks have the mandate loans from banks—includ- decide the risk premiums  MAINTAIN THE SCORE to change interest rates un- ing home and auto loans— of floating-rate home loans. The credit score is a dynamic der the external benchmark have been linked to external For instance, if you have a number, changing based on system if a consumer’s credit benchmarks. This new ‘very good’ credit score—760 your borrowing and repay- profile changes substantial- system has a provision under or above—you can get a ment history. Therefore, the ly. Lenders typically check which the interest rate a bor- home loan from Bank of interest rate of a loan linked borrower credit scores on a rower pays is also influenced Baroda at 8.1 per cent. How- to your credit score also quarterly basis. “A drastic by their credit profile. As a ever, if your credit score falls changes over time—it is not fall in the credit score of a result, many banks have be- below 760, you will have fixed at the initial rate at the borrower can lead to an in- gun categorising borrowers to pay an additional 0.25 time the loan is disbursed. crease in the loan rate,” says based on their credit score, per cent, bringing the final To maintain the same inter- Binani. For instance, the and will be charging differ- rate to 8.35 per cent. If your est rate, consumers have to Union Bank of India charges ent ‘credit-risk’ premiums credit score is below 725, make sure their credit scores a premium of 0.2 per cent based on these categories. the bank will add 1 per cent, do not fall substantially dur- for CIBIL scores of 700 Banks will largely be bringing the final interest ing their loan tenure. “Fluc- and above; however, if the using the credit scores rate to 9.1 per cent. Aside tuations in the credit score CIBIL score falls below 700, assigned to consumers by from this, many banks are adversely affect borrowers, the bank may increase that credit bureaus to determine also using their internal con- even for short-term loans. premium to 0.3 per cent. which category a borrower sumer ratings and other pa- Our credit partners do quar- falls into. “The credit score rameters to determine risk terly checks of our borrowers  IT’S SIMPLE, REALLY is one of the major factors premiums; however, even in to assess their credit scores Good credit habits are the in determining the credit- best way to maintain your worthiness of an applicant. credit score. “The most Those with good scores important thing to remem- have a higher probability YOUR CREDIT SCORE MATTERS ber is to make payments on of meeting loan repayment l Floating rate l There is a l The high- time for all availed credit, commitments. As banks are retail loans from ‘credit-risk’ est credit whether a credit card or a increasingly moving toward banks are now premium scores get retail loan. Maintaining a risk-based pricing of loans, linked to external under the the lowest a healthy debt-to-income they are trying to entice benchmarks new system interest rates ratio, avoiding applying creditworthy applicants by for credit from multiple charging lower credit-risk lenders simultaneously and l The lower l If your credit l Maintain a premiums,” says Radhika your credit score falls, the good credit preventing electronic cheque Binani, chief product officer, score, the higher interest rate on score to bounces and defaults are Paisabazaar.com. the credit-risk a floating-rate maintain low crucial,” says Aditya Kumar, Bank of Baroda, Bank of premium loan could rise interest rates CEO and founder, Qbera. n India, Union Bank of India, —Naveen Kumar

36 INDIA TODAY DECEMBER 9, 2019 Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY SMART MONEY GIFTS AND TAXES

amount received from a It’s also important to fund, institution, university, note that income earned hospital or other medical from gifts received may not institution, or any trust or be exempted from tax. “If institution referred in sec- you receive any income from tion 10(23C), or a trust reg- a gift—such as interest, or istered under section 12AA, other gains from invest- is exempted from tax,” says ment, you have to report Wadhwa. such income in your tax re- turn under the head ‘income  IT’S ALL RELATIVE from other sources’ and pay The tax implication that tax as per your tax slab”, says matters most relates to gifts Archit Gupta, founder and received from close relatives, CEO at Cleartax. as these are often of signifi- cant amounts. Gifts received  WHEN YOU NEED from certain ‘close relatives’ TO REPORT GIFTS are completely exempted— If your income is above the these relatives include basic exemption limit—Rs A TAXING parents, children, siblings 2.5 lakh for people below and one’s spouse’s parents the age of 60—it is manda- SITUATION and siblings. It also includes tory to file an income tax the spouse of a close relative. return. Therefore, gifts Giving gifts to your loved ones could Gifts from relatives beyond have to be declared as part also impose a tax burden on them— those specified do not enjoy of your income, even if it is except in these cases... tax exemption—for example, exempt. However, it may a gift received from a cousin not be mandatory if your may not be tax exempt. income is below the basic eceiving a gift from Rs 50,000, the excess is not exemption limit. “[If] the a loved one can most tax-empted. However, not assessee is not required to R certainly bring joy— all gifts are taxable in this RELATIVES file a tax return, there is no but with that being said, manner. FROM WHOM requirement to furnish the such gifts can also come SUCH GIFTS details of the gifts received with tax liabilities. It’s a sad  FREELY GIVEN AND ARE TAX FREE during the previous year,” fact that not all gifts are ALSO TAX FREE says Wadhwa. However, tax-exempted. “If the gifts There are certain special l The spouse of the indi- even though it is not manda- received by an assessee dur- occasions—such as mar- vidual receiving a gift tory, it would probably be ing a year exceed the limit of riage, for example—for l The lineal ascendants better to disclose it anyway. Rs 50,000, then the excess which gifts received are or descendants of the “You should disclose the amount is to be included considered non-taxable. individual value of gifts while filing in the total income of the Similarly, any amount l The lineal ascendant your tax return. In the case assessee under the head ‘in- received as a gift through or descendant of the of taxable gifts, the amount come from other sources’,” a will or as an inheritance spouse of the individual is to be mentioned under says Naveen Wadhwa, DGM is also exempted from tax. l An individual’s brother ‘other sources’. Exempt gifts at Taxmann. “This income Additionally, a gift received or sister should be disclosed as ‘ex- is taxed at the normally from someone contemplat- l An individual’s spouse’s empt income’ in the income applicable slab rates.” It is ing death—in the sense that brother or sister tax return,” says Gupta. This important to remember the gift is given by someone l The brother or sister of will ensure that you have that this applies to the total ‘disposing of their assets’— an individual’s parents an official record of all gifts amount received—if the is also exempted from taxes. l The spouses of the rela- received, which can also be sum total of gifts received Aside from these cases, gifts tives described in the of great help in the case of during a financial year received from local authori- above points an enquiry by tax officials. n exceeds the total limit of ties are also exempted. “Any —Naveen Kumar

Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY SMART MONEY HEALTH INSURANCE

HEALTH POLICIES FOR THE SILVER YEARS Senior citizen health coverage can be expensive. Before settling on a policy, make sure to consider the details, such as co-payments

Illustration by TANMOY CHAKRABORTY

hese days, many insur- while Max Bupa HealthIn- Practically speaking, one necessarily. “Ideally, you ers offer coverage to surance’s Health Compan- would have paid a total of Rs should get a comprehensive T senior citizens, either ion charges Rs 46,040 per 5.65 lakh—Rs 3 lakh as co- plan without co-pay, as via special schemes or by year. The difference largely pay and Rs 2.65 lakh as the these are without limita- including senior-centric comes down to the variance cumulative premium. tions. But if you are not features in general schemes. in co-payment—the higher In comparison, Max eligible for it because of There are also specific plans the co-payment, the lower Bupa Health Insurance’s your age or a pre-existing for diabetics and heart pa- the premium. Health Companion’s annual ailment, you could choose tients. However, unlike gen- premium is Rs 46,040, with a plan with the co-pay op- eral health insurance, plans  CO-PAYMENT CAN no co-payment required. tion,” says Amit Chhabra, for senior citizens come with REDUCE PREMIUMS Therefore, if one were to business head of health in- many caveats, including Essentially, co-payment re- make a claim of Rs 10 lakh surance, Policybazaar.com. higher co-payment, strict quires policyholders to bear after 10 years, one would medical tests, specific exclu- a certain percentage ofany have paid a total of Rs 4.6  SUB-LIMITS sions and longer waiting medical expense, while the lakh as premiums (though Since seniors are vulnerable periods for those with pre- insurer covers the rest. the insurer covers the full to age-related medical con- existing diseases (PEDs). For example, Star Health amount of the medical bill). ditions such as cataracts, Insurance’s Senior Citizen Should one avoid co- diabetes and high blood  HIGHER PREMIUMS Red Carpet plan has a payment plans, then? Not pressure, it is important The general principle in mandatory co-pay provision to check if the policy fully insurance is ‘the higher the of 30 per cent (50 per cent covers treatment for such age, the higher the pre- for pre-existing conditions). CO-PAYMENT problems. Most senior- mium’. This is especially The annual premium for REQUIRES centric health plans come true for health insurance, an insured sum of Rs 10 POLICYHOLD- with disease-based limits. because the probability of lakh is Rs 26,550. Suppose ERS TO PAY A For example, Dr S. Prakash, medical problems rises with one were to claim a billof PERCENTAGE joint managing director, age. However, there is a large Rs 10 lakh after 10 years OF EXPENSES. Star Health and Allied variance in premiums across of premiums—the policy Insurance, says that on THE INSURER policies for senior citizens— would require you to payRs policies with an insured Religare Health Insurance’s 3 lakh (30 per cent) yourself, COVERS sum of Rs 5 lakh, the limit Care Senior has a premium while the balance would THE REST for claims on heart-related of Rs 24,645 per annum, be covered by the insurer. health problems tends to

38 INDIA TODAY DECEMBER 9, 2019 Our Care Heart plan is 12 years. Some companies A LOOK AT suitable for those who have offer specific plans under undergone a cardiac proce- which premiums freeze at a THE OPTIONS dure, such as angioplasty or specific age. “The premium

SENIOR CITIZEN PLANS a stent implant.” remains constant after Other similar plans the age of 71 years under PLAN NAME ANNUAL ROOM (INSURANCE PREMIUM RENT CO-PAY include Star Health Insur- my:health Suraksha and COMPANY) (IN `) INFORMATION ance’s Diabetes Safe Plan— after 61 years of age under Care Senior 24,645 Up to 20 per cent for a premium of my:health Medisure Super (Religare Rs 10,000 mandatory Rs 21,240 per annum, the Top Up policy, until IRDAI Health per day co-payment sum insured is Rs 5 lakh. allows a premium revision Insurance) Apollo Munich Health across ages and segments Senior Citizen 26,550 Up to Mandatory Insurance’s Energy Silver for a product,” says Anurag Red Carpet Rs 6,000 co-payment of offers the same coverage, Rastogi, president, accident (Star Health per day 30 per cent at an annual premium of and health, HDFC ERGO Insurance) (50 per cent Rs 30,291. It also offers a General Insurance. for PED) ‘no claim bonus’—that is, a Activ Care 30,888 Shared 20 per cent 10 per cent increase in the  PRE AND POST Standard room—can mandatory basic sum insured for every HEALTH CHECKUPS (Aditya Birla be upgraded co-payment claim-free year, up to a Most health plans for senior Health to a single Insurance) private room maximum of 100 per cent. citizens require extensive medical tests. However,  PREMIUM REVISION some companies offer in- GENERAL RETAIL PLANS Until recently, getting surance without such tests. PLAN NAME ANNUAL ROOM insurance for those aged 75 Religare Health and Star (INSURANCE PREMIUM RENT CO-PAY COMPANY) (IN `) INFORMATION and above was not pos- Insurance are two such. sible. Today, most schemes Under Star’s Red Carpet Care (Religare 28,210 Up to single Full claim targeting this demographic, plan, if buyers provide cer- Health private room paid by insurer; Insurance) 20 per cent such as Religare Health’s tain medical reports, such co-payment Care Senior, Care Freedom as a stress thallium report, if age over 60 and Care Heart and HDFC a blood report and a sugar Health Com- 46,040 All catego- Full claim Ergo’s my:health Suraksha report (blood and urine, panion (Max ries, except paid by come without age barriers. fasting and post-prandial) Bupa Health suite and insurer The IRDAI has also made the insurer may even be Insurance) above it mandatory for insurers willing to offer a 10 per cent Optima Re- 44,860 All room Full claim to offer lifetime renew- discount on the premium. store (Apollo categories paid by ability of policies, though Most senior-centric Munich Health permitted insurer there could be revisions schemes also offer annual Insurance) in premiums every five health check-ups. “All our Data for a 65-year-old male with a sum insured of years or so. On an average, products offer an annual Rs 10 lakh; PED: Pre-existing disease premiums for those aged health check-up each year Source: www.policybazaar.com 65 and above increase by at no extra cost. These can 25 per cent every five years, be customised for senior says Sanjay Datta, chief of citizens as per their needs,” be around Rs 2.5 lakh. It ance, though insurers are underwriting, claims, rein- says Religare Health’s Gu- is important to keep such attempting to serve such surance and actuary, ICICI lati. Policies also come with conditions in mind before customers as well. “We Lombard General Insur- benefits—complimentary buying a policy. offer a diabetic-specific ance. However, this is not access to doctors on call, plan—Care Freedom— always the case. Star Health discounts for those who  DISEASE-SPECIFIC even to insulin-dependent Insurance’s Dr Prakash stay fit and complimentary It can be difficult for patients,” says Anuj Gulati, says that the company has access to health assessment people with diabetes or MD and CEO, Religare not revised premiums for reports. n heart disease to get insur- Health Insurance. “Also, senior citizens for the past —Aprajita Sharma

DECEMBER 9, 2019 INDIA TODAY 39 BOOKS EXCERPTS HOW MENON’S DOWNFALL

A CHEQUERED BRILLIANCE BEGAN The Many Lives of V.K. Krishna Menon by Jairam Ramesh PENGUIN `999; 744 pages

Vengalil Krishnan Krishna Menon is best remembered today as the Defence Minister who lost the 1962 India-China war. But in the course of his long and varied career—as a lawyer, an expat freedom-fighter, an ambassador and a minister—Menon’s complex reputation frequently preceded him even as it dogged him. Given his combination of ambition, ability and a talent for making loyal friends and bitter enemies, it was perhaps predictable that his ascent would be mirrored by a dramatic fall. Now a new biography, releasing this month, written by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh draws on previously untapped archives of letters and personal papers to unravel the complex impulses that animated this polarising figure. In these excerpts, episodes from Menon’s ministerial twilight suggest the twisting path of decisions and missed opportunities that can lead a powerful statesman to political oblivion.

Chou En-lai’s visit, April 1960 It was agreed that initially the two Prime Ministers will talk Chou had meetings with Nehru of course, but what was only between themselves, but that, later on the advisers on unusual was that Nehru got him to meet officially with both sides, not exceeding a total number of six, should also some of his seniormost colleagues as well—Pant; Morarji participate. Prime Minister suggested that Premier Chou Desai, the finance minister; Swaran Singh, the minister of might meet the Minister of Home Affairs as well as the Min- steel; and Krishna Menon. Chou and Chen Yi also called on ister of Defence. Premier Chou had said that he would like Vice-President S. Radhakrishnan. Krishna Menon had first to call on the Home Minister. At the end of the morning talk, met Chou in Geneva in May–June 1954. Then they had been Premier Chou said that he would like to meet the Defence together in Bandung in April 1955 and in Beijing a month Minister before coming to the Prime Minister’s residence later. Among all Indians, he had had the maximum interac- for further talks in the afternoon. It was, therefore, decided tions with Chou. that the Defence Minister would call on the Chinese Prime Krishna Menon was at the airport along with the Prime Minister at 3 pm in Rashtrapati Bhavan . . . Minister and other senior ministers to receive Chou and his Krishna Menon’s only official meeting with Chou lasted team. The Nehru–Chou talks began the next day at 11 am The two hours. Till now no record of that conversation had been record of that first conversation says: available, unlike those of all other meetings of Chou. In the

40 INDIA TODAY DECEMBER 9, 2019 Krishna Menon archive there is a 14-page ‘Top Secret’ note policy towards India after the Dalai Lama’s flight to India prepared by him after his first discussion with Chou on 20 in March 1959; second, how much Krishna Menon was April 1960. This note, which he had sent to Nehru, said: going out of the way to give the impression that he was a Chou En-lai greeted me warmly. Present at the meeting were team player and did not want to stray from the official line, also Chen-Yi and Chang Han Fu... whatever he felt about it privately. That very night he met Chou over an official dinner and sent Nehru a brief note Chou En-lai said he was very glad to see me again... [He] saying that his second conversation was for about seven then said that the Prime Minister (JN) had said that I wished to eight minutes and was ‘informal and old style’. He told to meet him... I did not contradict this although this was not a Nehru that Chou recalled their interactions at Geneva in fact... At a later stage in the conversation he also mentioned 1954 and in Peking in 1955 and had asked him whether he that he had said to our Prime Minister (JN) that he would like had any suggestions to make. Krishna Menon had played to see me. To this again, as on the previous occasion I merely coy and said that the suggestions would undoubtedly come made a smiling response... I took the line which the Prime Minister (JN) had taken and conveyed to him the deep sense of shock that India had suffered [from THE ONLY ONE ON THE INDIAN SIDE Chinese incursions into Ladakh in October WHO BELIEVED THAT INDIA MUST 1959], making it clear that it was not a shock of fear but of friendship outraged... NEGOTIATE WITH THE CHINESE ON A Chou En-lai then replied, I think, for about GIVE-AND-TAKE BASIS WAS MENON 20–30 minutes... His first point was to ex - press appreciation for our position in relation to them and mentioned the United Nations and so on... He mentioned about Tibet, about Chinese total sovereignty and Tibetan autonomy. He referred to the Dalai Lama and while they did not object to political asylum, and could not do so, and had nothing to say against him, they were shocked with the reception and the treatment given to the Dalai Lama and that the Dalai Lama was using India as his base of op- erations and maligning China... He seemed to have exaggerated notions of a great Tibetan movement here...... He said that China had made no territorial claims... and he suggested that we had said that they had made these claims... The pur- pose of this may have been to convey the Menon and Chou en-Lai’s first meeting in Bandung,Indonesia, April 1955 impression that in the East their position is more or less to let things be and to obtain some definition of frontiers... He said they had come with up with the meetings between the two Prime Ministers.... a very sincere desire to settle matters and we must find a Thus far, Krishna Menon had met Chou twice in three settlement... days. On 23 April, he met with Chen Yi for almost two With regard to the Northern area... I did not get into the and a half hours between 10 pm and 12.30 am. The two question of our knowing or not knowing about the roads, but conferred again for some 90 minutes on the evening of 24 merely said it was an incursion into our areas which he later April, 1960. Chou and his colleagues left India on 26 April, repudiated. He gave the indication that things should be al- 1960, his talks with Nehru having failed to produce any lowed to freeze... I was extremely careful not to say anything breakthrough on the volatile border dispute. in view of our internal position. I also said that neither this The only person on the Indian side who had always Government nor any Government could make compromise believed that India must negotiate with the Chinese on a in regard to Indian sovereignty and Indian territory... give-and-take basis was Krishna Menon. There is, however, This extract is a highly abbreviated account of a con- no written evidence that the so-called Krishna Menon for- versation that lasted for over two hours. But even this con- mula—that India would accept China’s claims in Ladakh, veys two things: first, how strongly Tibet and the Dalai and in return China would accept India’s claims on the Lama played on Chou’s mind and how it changed China’s strategically vital Chumbi Valley—came up in his conversa-

DECEMBER 9, 2019 INDIA TODAY 41 BOOKS EXCERPTS

tions with Chou. He refused to confirm or categorically deny that not only the Chinese Prime Minister but also the Indian that such a package deal had, in fact, been discussed between Prime Minister would personally have been ready for a com- him and the Chinese premier. He would be asked a few weeks promise... Mr. Krishna Menon informed me with characteristic later in Bombay about these conversations, and his reply was: brutal frankness that the problem could only be settled ‘by Whatever I do these days makes news. If I drink tea it is news. horse trading’ and the Vice-President (Dr. Radhakrishnan) If I ask for coffee for a change that too is news. confided to me in more diplomatic if feebler language that if the Chinese would yield India ‘the shadow’ of sovereignty Some years later he was again asked about the mutual- in Ladakh, the Indian[s] should yield to the Chinese ‘the sub- lease idea, and his reply was non-committal: stance’ of administrative and military control there. Mr. Menon There may have been all sorts of ideas... Actually the Prime indicated to me that Mr. Nehru agrees with this view, but that Minister and I had talks on what could be done but other he was forced to deny it by the strength of his compatriots’ people, some of them senior men, although they did not veto present opposition to any deal. I believe that is a correct de- it said: ‘Why all this now; we will see when it comes’. It was scription of the Prime Minister’s frame of mind.... not understood that in diplomacy if you take the initiative your action has far greater effect. Perhaps they thought it was Slighting Thimayya, not necessary. I believe that in 1960 China April 1961 had made it very difficult for those of us Thimayya would recommend Lt Gen- who wanted to do anything. That is what I eral S.S.P. Thorat as his successor but told Chou En-lai when he came here. I said, IN HOW HE that would be turned down by Krishna ‘You may hurt us, but you hurt yourselves DEALT WITH THE Menon and thereafter by the Prime more; you have strengthened every reac- APPOINTMENT Minister as well. Instead, Lt General tionary element in this country...you have P.N. Thapar was selected as the fifth made it impossible for reasonable people OF GENERAL army chief invoking the seniority cri- to talk and seek ways of settlement’. I don’t THIMAYYA’S SUC- teria which had been ignored while ap- think Chou En-lai had much freedom [of ac- pointing Thimayya. This, by itself, was tion] on this. CESSOR, ONE nothing unusual and could be defended But from all that we know about his CAN SEE KRISHNA easily. But what Thimayya and Thorat approach to diplomacy it would not be MENON AT HIS were to be subjected to was bewildering. wrong to assume that such a discussion Thapar would write a ‘Personal and on a long-term lease basis had taken place. PETTIEST AND Top Secret’ bombshell of a letter to Thi- Malcolm Macdonald reported to the Brit- MEANEST mayya on 23 April 1961, a fortnight be- ish home secretary on 13 July 1960: fore the latter’s retirement, making 13 ...There is in fact some reason to believe specific allegations against the man he

42 INDIA TODAY DECEMBER 9, 2019 MOMENTS IN HISTORY (clockwise from far left) Nehru, Chen Yi, Menon, Chou En-lai, S. Radhakrishnan and Govind Ballabh Pant, April 1960; Menon, Gen. K.S. Thimayya, Nehru and Minister of State S.S. Majithia on the occasion of Thimayya taking over as army chief, May 1957; Menon with Nehru at a UN Day function, New Delhi, October 25, 1962; Menon at a public meeting on the night of the Chinese invasion in Delhi, October 20, 1962

was to succeed. These allegations included passing on classi- their worldview, Kaul identified himself openly with the na- fied information to members of the opposition in Parliament, tionalist movement. He moved easily in political circles and making very disparaging remarks about the Prime Minister had come to Nehru’s attention soon after Independence. He and the defence minister to Indians and foreigners, hobnob- was made part of India’s delegation to the UN in 1948 and bing with arms dealers, and some financial irregularities. thereafter held a series of assignments that, however, were On the same day Thapar wrote a similar letter to Thorat never operational in nature. Along with Krishna Menon and as well making five charges of telling diplomats posted in Thapar, he had to quit the army after India’s debacle in the New Delhi that there was far too much political interference October–November 1962 war with China but there was a in appointments in the Indian Army, of making indiscreet time when he was even considered one of the eight possible comments against the defence minister, of spending far too successors to Nehru. much money on farewell parties for Thimayya, and of telling the Americans and South Koreans way back in 1954 that Operation Vijay, December 1961 India would not have survived after Independence without Operation Vijay, under the leadership of Major General K.P. American support. Candeth—son of Krishna Menon’s teacher at Presidency Thapar would not have written these letters without College some 45 years earlier and hailing from Ottapalam, Krishna Menon bamboozling him. This was the defence some 100 km away from Krishna Menon’s place of birth—was minister at his pettiest and meanest. He must have kept launched on the night of 17 December. The very next day the the Prime Minister informed and got his approval because Portuguese surrendered, bringing to an end, in less than 24 Thapar began both the letters by saying, ‘I am directed by hours, 451 years of colonial rule. Candeth would continue to the Prime Minister to request you for your comments on be an admirer of Krishna Menon. Many years later he would the following allegations,’ and ended by saying, ‘The Prime tell his grandniece Janaki Ram: Minister is, however, anxious that every opportunity should He [Krishna Menon] was undoubtedly the ablest Defence Min- be given to you to clear up your position in the matter before ister the army ever had—we owe him a tremendous debt, be- Government decided what further action should be taken.’ cause but for him we would not have had a defence industry. Krishna Menon had a co-conspirator in this sordid epi- He had vision and enormous drive. He could get things done. sode. That was Lt General B.M. Kaul, who had been in Korea But his manner of doing things was what antagonised the with Thimayya and Thorat and was then the quartermaster army. Because we are an organisation where respect, honour general at army headquarters. References to what Thimayya and tradition hold a great deal of importance. And we have to and Thorat had said in Korea could only have come from command people and we can’t do it if someone denigrates you. him, and this is the smoking gun of Kaul’s involvement in The West was livid with Krishna Menon, and to a lesser putting Thimayya and Thorat in the dock. Kaul had many extent with Nehru, on Goa—they had consciously or uncon- things going for him: at a time when most officers in the sciously played the good cop–bad cop routine very well. The Indian Army in the 1940s were seen to be too ‘British’ in US State Department cabled the embassy in New Delhi on 26

DECEMBER 9, 2019 INDIA TODAY 43 BOOKS EXCERPTS

US President John F. Kennedy and Menon at the UN, November 1961

an American professor at Harvard University, who was visiting India as a consultant to the US National Se- curity Council. What Krishna Menon had attempted to do for the Sino-US relationship in 1955, this professor would accomplish in 1971 and be- come a legend. On 8 and 10 January, 1962, Krishna Menon met with Hen- ry Kissinger. Unlike Krishna Menon, Kissinger maintained records of all his meetings and noted: I began the conversation by saying it was very kind of the Defence Minister to spare me the time for the appoint- MENON TOLD KISSINGER THAT KENNEDY ment... Menon replied that I was un- HAD TREATED HIM IN A HIGH-HANDED doubtedly one of the Americans who wished him defeated in the next elec- FASHION, BUT THAT HE KNEW IT WAS tion... the American press, American ACTUALLY DIRECTED AGAINST NEHRU officials and the President [Kennedy] he said were either reporting about him invidiously or had treated him in a high-handed fashion... This was par- December, 1961 that the Indian ambassador in the US, B.K. ticularly true of the President. He said that he was aware of Nehru, had been told that Krishna Menon’s visit to New York the President’s rude behaviour to him had not been directed just as the Portuguese were surrendering was being seen by against him personally but against the Prime Minister. People the Americans as India ‘flaunting its action in Goa’. who were afraid to tackle Nehru tackled him. In his conversations with Michael Brecher some years I said that it seemed to be inconceivable that his interpretation later Krishna Menon opened up to an unusual extent and was correct. After all, the President had been committed to a spoke extensively of how the Goa operation was planned and strong and developing India long before he became the Chief its consequences. He was extremely critical of the role of the Executive...Krishna Menon replied, ‘You are always trying to Americans, and of Galbraith in particular. He did not deny embrace us. Don’t embrace us. We are a proud people’... that he had presented a virtual fait accompli to the Prime We then turned briefly to Goa. Menon said that the American Minister on the exact time of the operation informing him objection to the Indian action was a vestige of Western imperi- after it had begun. He would deny that his activism over alism... The attack on Goa was simply a continuation of India’s Goa had anything to do with the elections since there were struggle for independence... only a handful of Goans in North Bombay. He would com- pliment the army, navy and air force for working very well I asked Menon about the difficulties with China on India’s together. Two individuals would be mentioned: Lt General northern frontier. He replied that the territory occupied by B.M. Kaul was praised for planning the entire operation, the Chinese was absolutely worthless, a fact well known to all and Lt General J.N. Chaudhuri for muscling in and claiming foreigners eager to launch India into a conflict with China. The credit for doing nothing. A year later, Kaul would be forced worst result of the Chinese moves on India’s northern frontier to resign after the military debacle in the war with China, was its weakening of the progressive elements in India... and Chaudhuri would take over as army chief from Thapar, In nine months, the war that Krishna Menon thought who would also be made to quit. Goa may well have given would not happen did, in fact, take place. India would face Krishna Menon and Kaul a swollen head and a false sense severe military reverses, and Krishna Menon would be forced of India’s military prowess. to resign with the US ambassador, Galbraith, playing a cru- cial role in his ouster. Krishna Menon never really took to Meeting Kissinger, January 1962 Galbraith. He may have resented Galbraith’s easy access to This was the year that started off with a bang and ended Nehru but more than that he found Galbraith’s behaviour up with an even bigger bang as far as Krishna Menon was to be imperial and viceregal, without the sophistication and concerned. But before the bang came two conversations with grace of a Mountbatten. n

44 INDIA TODAY DECEMBER 9, 2019 8 51

52 LEISURE 5

ART THE BARD OF BENARES Manu Parekh’s new paintings again pay tribute to a changing Kashi and its unchanging spirit LEISURE

idely regarded as one of Benares his muse. India’s leading modern More than Husain and Kumar, though, lights, Manu Parekh, it is the radical Souza whose influence can be 80, says, “You can create unmistakably felt on Parekh’s landscape. They art from art—or from were great friends, but Parekh shrugs off the life.” The “life” that comparison. “I am a great admirer of Souza’s WParekh speaks of is abundant in his work. It powerful landscapes,” he explains. “Souza once was conspicuous at Parekh’s NGMA retrospec- said that when he paints a landscape, he takes a tive last year, and is now evident in 42 of the church from England, boats from Amsterdam artist’s new compositions that have been com- and trees from Paris to create his own Goan piled in Manu Parekh: Recent Paintings. The image. In my Benares landscapes, I wanted to book is defined by Parekh’s belief—“nothing is create a particularisation of a place, instead.” original.” He says, “This attitude towards re- If Parekh’s art sometimes resembles a vealing my influences is open and very honest.” child’s dream, blame it on his affinity for Paul Somewhat expectedly, many of Parekh’s Klee, whose primitive and geometric abstrac- new works revolve around Benares. For the tions continue to surprise him. In much of past three decades, the artist has created a Parekh’s art, he has found a way of marrying magical Benares series that has been brim- Klee with Indian folk elements. Like Klee, he ming with beauty and poetic symbolism. In draws inspiration from things as simple as flow- his new work, Parekh again devotes himself to ers: “One morning, they are on a God’s head. capturing the ‘city of light’. Rather than Mon- The next, trampled under the feet of devotees.” et’s Rouen cathedral experiments, Parekh’s One of the most fascinating works featured technique is more Vincent Van Gogh and in Parekh’s book is a retelling of Van Gogh’s F.N. Souza. There is intimacy and isolation in iconic ‘The Potato Eaters’. Parekh, who has his Benares landscapes—marked by temple worked in Indian villages as a craftsman, recalls facades, graffiti and the Ganga. visiting a poor famine-struck village in Odisha Born in Ahmedabad, Parekh, a Sir J.J. once. “I immediately connected the situation to School of Art alumnus, first visited Benares in ‘The Potato Eaters’.” As someone who believes 1980 after his father’s death. Raised as a devout that everything is connected to everything Hindu, he felt an instant connection to the city. else, life to art and art to life, Parekh’s work is a MANU PAREKH Before him, M.F. Husain and Ram Kumar had constantly evolving theatre of possibilities. The Recent Paintings by Manu Parekh famously travelled to Benares together. Husain, question is urgent—is there a lot more art left in ALEPH restless and nomadic, packed his bags and left him? “I’ve got a few things on my mind.”n `1,499; 104 pages after a week, while Kumar stayed and made —Shaikh Ayaz

‘Sunset at Banaras, Assi Ghat’, by Manu Parekh URBAN DICTIONARY In the drawings that are interspersed through Bhatia’s book, the architect evokes a landscape of India that could either belong to its today or tomorrow

BOOKS Our Ugly horizons with derelict remains of architecture or a pastiche of WASTELAND cheap, disposable images from pop culture marring our cities. Amid the relentless pes- his new book on archi- detail and he dissects these simism, though, one can see the ecture, culture and the landscapes to show us what horizon of what Bhatia longs tate of our cities, seething we always knew but pretended for—a city where the ‘public’ with barely contained rage, not to see. means equal access for all, tect Gautam Bhatia evis- The book is interrupted by whose development does not tes the middle classes—our ‘footnotes’ that seem to have mean the ravaging of nature ssions with money, preju- little direct relationship with or the exploitation of the poor, s and vanities, ambitions the main text. Instead, they tell and where justice, freedom pettiness, disdain of the satirical semi-fictional stories and equality are ideals that we c realm and our hatred of of absurdities that might as well should aim towards. ther and each other. This be true, given the state of the In Delirious City, Bhatia asks ook that instead of shying nation we live in. These are also architects to reclaim this man- y from the ugliness around interspersed with drawings date for the shaping of spaces DELIRIOUS CITY Polity and Vanity in us, revels in describing it. that run through the entire book for a better life, a mandate that Urban India The book is divided into evoking a landscape of an India was part of the imagination of by Gautam Bhatia chapters, each covering the today or tomorrow—desolate the nation that the early modern NIYOGI BOOKS various horrors of the con- state offered, no matter that `995; 312 pages temporary Indian city. With it failed to actually deliver. He titles like ‘Consumptive Life’, Amid the asks us to reclaim that hope, ‘Parasitic Lives’, ‘Nowhere goes relentless by refusing to give in to the Nowhere’, they describe the exigencies of today and to claim landscape of our cities, their in- pessimism and the domain of imagination as a equities, squalor and injustices. rage, one can see space where new futures, new As an architect, Bhatia has the blueprint of alternatives can be imagined. n an unerring eye for gruesome Bhatia’s ideal city —Rohan Shivkumar

DECEMBER 9, 2019 INDIA TODAY 47 FINALLY, A WHODUNNIT THAT TICKS MANY BOXES AGATHA CHRISTIE ONCE DID

n A Death in the Himalayas, a The well-paced novel has all the fa- British resident of a town in miliar tics of a whodunnit, genre patterns Kumaon is found murdered in the that fans of Agatha Christie will instantly forest, prompting one chara recognise; the frisson of whether the to succinctly note to investi murderer will strike again, the tangen- tors: “Who all will you run af tial secrets that get uncovered, the red I herrings and ultimately the final reveal The list of people who are happy to her dead is long, very long.” In Uday itself. Mukherjee ably juggles his cast, in Mukherjee’s second novel, a mounta textbook fashion throwing suspicion on set murder mystery, everyone seem each one by turn, and moves things along have a motive, but none seems to ha at a decent clip. an alibi. There is the shifty America With crime fiction, murder is also a neighbour, the dubious British husb lens to examine the surrounding social the nasty local MLA and a cast of ot fabric and Mukherjee attempts to parse rogues, buffoons and interested par the local culture, its fissures and fault- with good reason to do in Clare Wat lines, while touching on themes of natural Watson, a writer and activist, ha destruction, intolerance and domestic gered many; right-wing groups who abuse. But as an Indian reader, I found posed her book, local men whose w the patronising translations grating; for she had empowered and real estate instance, Rs 64, is “less than a dollar”, the interests whose development plans “gram panchayat” is the “village com- was hell-bent on scotching. Neville Wadia, HIMALAYAS mittee” and Holi, lest we forget, is “the a retired policeman from Mumbai, now re- A Neville Wadia festival of colours”. Though the language treated to a quiet retirement in the hills, is Mystery tends to lurch into cliché and there is a inevitably pulled into proceedings to lead by Udayan Mukherjee temptation to over-explain, Mukherjee PAN MACMILLAN manages to evoke a real sense of place, the probe. Along with Satish Kalia, a cop `499; 280 pages sent across from Delhi, he must quickly and the denouement when it comes, is solve the crime, given the mounting public sufficiently satisfying.n interest and intense political pressure. —Bhavya Dore

OF CHILLS AND THRILLS

DARKNESS INDIA’S MOST HAUNTED by Ratnakar Matkari Tales of Terrifying Places (translated by Vikrant Pande) by K. Hari Kumar HARPERCOLLINS HARPERCOLLINS `299; 228 pages `499; 340 pages This collection of horror and In this book, K. Hari Kumar mystery stories by Ratnakar mines the chills and thrills of Matkari, translated from Mumbai’s Towers of Silence, the Marathi, features a tele- a haunted mall in Kaushambi, pathic boy, a troubled ghost, Uttar Pradesh, and the notori- and a child with a ous Bhangarh fort in Rajasthan, dangerous, invisible friend. STRANGE STORIES among others. by Shreya Sen-Handley HARPERCOLLINS `350; 208 pages In Shreya Sen-Handley’s collection of 13 stories, ordinary people encounter extraordinary situations, including a bored wife seeking a fling, a wheelchair-bound poet and a stationery thief. LEISURE

BOOKS HOW TO BE

GRAND UNION by Zadie Smith HAMISH HAMILTON `699; 256 pages ZADIE SMITH

adie Smith is argu- think we mourned the seers To write, Smith shows, is to and some of her essays, ably the voice of a and witches and holy fools empathise. It is the differ- more evidence of her new generation com- who used to try and divine ence between the ersatz confidence—oddly, for a ing to terms with these things from colours in knowingness of technology writer so feted so young—in its irrelevance, the skies”. and the necessary emo- her own voice. Here she’s not its obsolescence. James Joyce, in his tional knowledge we must seeking to please her readers Those of us in our famous story ‘The Dead’, acquire to be fully human, so much as challenge them. Z40s were raised in a still traced the journey of Ga- to discard the scrim of our This is, as Smith has said of analogue world, never mind briel, impermeable in his individuated identities to the work she loves to read, one in which, as Smith once overcoat, his stoutness, the connect with other people. “writing that is respectful observed, we are “sentient “high colour of his cheeks” The stories in Grand of the human capacity to people entrapped in the through a single night until Union are spare, fragmen- understand”. The old shib- recent careless thoughts of a he felt his “own identity tary, sometimes madden- boleths, Smith seems to be Harvard sophomore”. Social was fading out into a grey ingly so as if we are being arguing, have been replaced media, once the object of impalpable world”. Gabriel presented with a series of by a new set that require our near-religious rapture, is shocked into empathy by abandoned writing exer- attention and resistance. has curdled into a kind of a revelation from his wife. cises. But they offer, like “To live well?” a character in hell. “We felt the awesome He too feels the awesome Smith’s 2012 novel NW Grand Union, an African power of knowing,” Smith power of knowing; what immigrant who makes a writes in a story in Grand he knows though, or finally living plaiting the hair of Union, her first collection of understands, is the empa- British tourists in southern short stories published last thy required to extend our In her first Spain, asks rhetorically. “Is month, “we were high on own unknowability, our collection ZADIEof short not easy.” n it, and yet simultaneously I complexity, to other people. stories, shows —Shougat Dasgupta SMITH that to write is to empathise DECEMBER 9, 2019 INDIA TODAY 49 THE UNORTHODOX Hot Yoga guru Bikram Choudhury taking a class in a heated room in Beverly Hills, California

DOCUMENTARY

THE BOB RIHA, JR./GETTY IMAGES

PREDATOR’S overheated environment of sweating and pain. In fitness-crazy, celebrity-driven Los Angeles, he was unorthodox, but also undeni- POSE ably popular. “Bikram stood out. He was Indian, appealing, cheeky, A new Netflix documentary shows how different and he told people the truth about their bodies and their yoga guru Bikram Choudhury got lifestyles even if people didn’t want to hear it,” says Orner. “…. And away with sexual assault they got results.” Lurking behind the flashy lifestyle of Rolex watches and Rolls Royces, however, Bikram turned out to be that old stereotype: a powerful man with a predatory urge. “He would focus on women who were very young. They very much looked up to him…,” says ong before #MeToo, a series of sexual assault Orner, who won a Best Documentary Feature Oscar as producer allegations erupted against California-based in 2008. “He often held the keys to their livelihood and careers and yoga guru Bikram Choudhury. He was eventu- could determine their status as teachers within the Bikram world.” ally tried and convicted in a civil case brought Eventually, victims began to come forward and speak about the L against him by a former legal adviser. He fled harassment and assault. the US. Australian filmmaker Eva Orner’s engaging new docu- Initially, the close-knit world of Bikram followers was not fa- mentary, Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator, charts the astronomic miliar to Orner; getting people to talk was itself a challenge. “This rise and gradual fall of the once wildly popular Kolkata-born story was explosive and had divided a community, so many people I immigrant who brought what he claimed was a revolutionary approached were very suspicious of my motives,” she says. Neither new form of yoga to Americans. The film, which premiered Bikram nor anyone from his camp would speak to Orner, so his side on Netflix on November 20, is a tightly told story of the man, of the story is told almost entirely through archival material, news his cultish followers and his misdeeds. interviews and courtroom footage. Bikram comes across as a “Despite news coverage of the story over ribald, charismatic and ultimately buffoonish figure. the years, I felt [it] had never been told in its en- The movie draws strength from the victims’ tirety and what made it interesting to me was Lurking behind clear-eyed narrations—women who came forward, that Bikram, despite everything, has gotten a flashy lifestyle, like so many women do, only years later. And in a away with it,” says Orner, by email. “I felt it was Bikram was different time. “You have to remember the women in relevant and worthy of making and then during this story...didn’t have the support of a movement,” production #MeToo occurred, which I thought the old stereo- says Orner. “They were alone and lost everything... made it even more relevant.” The form of “hot type—a power- They were vilified and excommunicated and, in the yoga” that he popularised involved a series ful man with a end, he got away with it.” n of poses he claimed as his own, all done in an predatory urge —Bhavya Dore

50 INDIA TODAY DECEMBER 9, 2019 LEISURE MUSIC Raising Her Voice

SONA MOHAPATRA’S self-produced documentary traces her inspirations LEISURE

MUSIC FINDING ITS FIZZ The 12th season of Coke Studio Pakistan is a reminder that our neighbours share our idea of fun

EverEsince its YouTube premiere on Oc- song that he masterfully reprises in the our fun wasn’t half as contagious. tober 11, the 12th season of Coke Studio second episode of Coke Studio. Indians, Fareed Ayaz and Abu Muhammad Pakistan has seemed too identifiable to of course, would first think of ‘Kammo’ have now been part of almost every be foreign. Atif Aslam and Rahat Fateh when listening to the tune. The makers Coke Studio line-up. Ayaz sings his Ali Khan, one of the first performers on of Ziddi (1997), a Sunny Deol-starrer, while chewing paan, getting the show, had, until recently, featured had lifted the song only to mangle it. carried away with the beat of the dhol or on several of our film soundtracks, Finding India connects, though, with Muhammad’s interventions. Their packing our halls and stadiums peri- might well be doing Pakistan a disser- set usually ends in rapture. Performing odically. The Punjabi that one hears in vice. Coke Studio, if nothing else, proves ‘Aadam’ this year, the duo monopolised songs like ‘Dhola’ is familiar. In Episode that the country must for once be freed our attention for a full 12 minutes. 4, Ali Sethi adapts Mehdi Hassan’s of the hyphen (Indo-Pak) that continues Marked by an utter lack of dissonance, ‘Gulon Mein Rang Bhare’, a ghazal to oppress it. Indians tried their hand at the house band did not alter the purity Arijit Singh had memorably rendered in Coke Studio but none of our collabora- of their form or vocals. If anything, the Haider (2014). In 1995, Abrar-ul-Haq tions felt as seamless as theirs, none as guitars and drums only made their faith had released the runaway hit ‘Billo’, a clear-sighted, and more importantly, more accessible. There’s always been

52 INDIA TODAY DECEMBER 9, 2019 MUSIC Coke’s Jukebox Hits

RAPTURE (clockwise from Season 2 far left) Umair Jaswal, Rahat ‘ALIF ALLAH’ Fateh Ali Khan, Zoe Viccaji, Arif Lohar and Meesha Shafi Atif Aslam and Fareed Ayaz Not many had heard of Coke Studio until and Abu Muhammad Arif Lohar belted out ‘Alif Allah’ aka ‘Jugni’ with a passion that only Meesha Shafi could imitate. The somewhat unusual pair put the folk in pop effortlessly. something deeply secular about dian counterpart in recent years, Coke Studio’s invocations. it seems clear that 2019 marks a For each of its acts, Coke return to form. The reason for this Studio releases an accompanying might be simple. Rohail Hyatt, the behind-the-scenes (BTS) video. producer responsible for having You’re immediately struck by the first conceived the show, has re- camaraderie of musicians who turned to its helm after five years. seem only too happy jamming Unlike India, where with artists they admire. In the appropriates everything indepen- ‘Gulon Mein Rang’ BTS, a guitar- dent, Hyatt brings together bands ist talks about not wanting to dis- and artists that sound disparate Season 4 turb the song’s original Jhinjhoti and then gives them an idiom they ‘RABBA SACHEYA’ composition. Salima Hashmi, can collectively interpret. In the Atif Aslam Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s daughter, says, third episode, when Atif Aslam It’s with some fervour that Atif Aslam “Every generation has the right to adds Punjabi lyrics to a Baloch puts to music verses written by Faiz feel one’s way around one’s inheri- composition, it doesn’t sound Ahmed Faiz. The song—essentially a tance, and to make it contempo- superfluous. Having recorded Q&A between man and God—still has the rary. Only then do you know that ‘Mubarik’, a Balochi musician says capacity to leave its listeners swooning. time is moving forward.” ‘Gulon...’ he has never been happier. You makes Faiz relevant, yes, but also immediately believe him. more lucid. When our nationalism was With Coke Studio Pakistan less fragile, the Pakistani cricket having started to imitate its In- team was welcome on our pitches, Fawad Khan acted in our movies and Abida Parveen performed Coke Studio, freely across the country. Politics and borders always left us divid- if nothing ed, but our culture was something else, proves that we together delighted in. With all Pakistan must for channels of “soft diplomacy” now Season 10 once be freed of the officially clogged, it has become ‘NAINA MORAY’ hyphen (Indo-Pak) the task of Coke Studio to dem- Javed Bashir and Akbar Ali that continues to onstrate that the Pakistanis we so Recreating a thumri sung by Bade love to lampoon and dismiss are Ghulam Ali Khan takes some audacity, oppress it but Akbar Ali brings to the table a also human like us in the end. n simplicity of spirit that is wholly —Shreevatsa Nevatia captivating, much like Javed Bashir’s extra qawwali punch. QA

To Have An Edge RICHA CHADHA will soon be seen in the second season of Inside Edge, but of late, she has been playing more roles off-screen

Q. You play Zarina in Inside Q. In Amazon Prime’s One Mic Stand, Q. You are forthright on social media Edge. Tell us about her arc in you say that every year you do some- about your thoughts on India’s socio- season two? thing that scares you. Do you know political affairs. Do you worry about the In season one, she was insecure, what you are doing in 2020? ramifications? threatened and, by the end, cut a I’ve been working non-stop since There aren’t any. I am only on the side sorry figure. In season two, they 2012. In the last two years, I felt of humanity and logic. The majority can have added another layer to her. settled and decided to explore my do whatever they want but there will Tired of getting screwed over by inner artist. In 2017, I began writ- always be those who will swim against men, she finds herself lured by ing a book, bought a camera, started the tide. Artists are the moral conscience power. It’s a natural progression. sketching again and learning classical of society. If advocating for peace and I see it in a lot of actors too. They Hindustani vocal. This year, I learned togetherness is a bad thing, then there’s start off wanting to do the right to ride a bike and am learning a new something wrong with the world. I am projects, but, eventually, lose the dance form. Next year, I want to go on a taxpayer who’d rather have my money plot. I didn’t judge Zarina. If she a bike ride with a group of women rid- spent on education than building anoth- is seduced by evil, then so be it. ers and finish my book. er monument or organising gala events.

Photograph by BANDEEP SINGH —with Suhani Singh

54 Volume XLIV Number 49; For the week December 3-9, 2019, published on every Friday Total number of pages 68 (including cover pages)