Vol 20 I No 4 April 2012 l Rs 20 www.oeglobalnews.com A MONTHLY NEWS MAGAZINE COVER STORY WAKE UP CALL FOR NATIONAL PARTIES RNI UP-ENG70032/92, Vol 20, No 4 Akhilesh Yadav EDITOR PRASHANT TEWARI ASSOSIATE EDITOR Dr RAHUL MISRA task cut out POLITICAL EDITOR PRAKHAR MISRA hough it early days to judge Akhilesh wave BUREAU CHIEF that swept UP recently, the architect of GOPAL CHOPRA (DELHI), VEELAAS TSamajwadi Party's outstanding win, KENJALE (MUMBAI), SOUMEN ACHARYA Akhilesh Yadav as Chief Minister of Uttar (KOLKATA), DIVYASH BAJPAI (USA), KAPIL DUDAKIA (U.K.) RAJIV AGNIHOTRI Pradesh has a tough task on hand in tackling (MAURITIUS), ROMIL RAJ (DUBAI), HER- lawlessness and fulfilling promises made in his MAN SILOCHAN (CANADA), YASHWANT party manifesto. AMIN [AUS/NZ] His skill would be under test in dealing with CONTENT PARTNER the issue given the background of the militant image of SP Pratham Pravakta LEGAL ADVISOR workers,he has an uphill task of dispelling Samajwadi Party's image of ASHOKA KUMAR THAKUR,GAURAV being lax in tackling lawlessness. But within days of assuming office, BHATIA Akhilesh Yadav has disappointed many people by giving the impression MARKETING DIRECTOR that these pressing concerns may be beyond his ability to deal with. DIWAKAR SHETTY ADMINITRATION DIRECTOR A disproportionately large number of ministers inducted into his gov- BAL MUKUND GAUR ernment have long histories of crime, serious attacks on political oppo- CORPORATE COMMUNICATION nents of the ruling party, and on dalits, have taken place. QUEENIE SINGH If crime persists and “goonda raj” — which many thought characterised GRAPHICS & DESIGN GREY CELLS the SP’s previous tenure — returns, an environment hospitable to industry, ONLINE PRESENTATION social cohesiveness and political stability will prove elusive. We hope the AMIT SONI CM can rise above the constraints imposed by the core social base that PHOTOGRAPHER brought him to office. K P SINGH OVERSEAS MARKETING Another uphill task for him would be in his dealings with the party sen- OEMCL(Mauritius), OEHCL (DUBAI) iors who may be upset at the sudden transition taking place in it. Azam Khan and Shivpal Yadav initially relented the idea by putting Mulayam ADVERTISEMENT / PR / CIRCULATION Singh’s candidature to head the UP government but Mulayam Singh was VINAY GOYAL DHRUV JANAK & CO. R -51 BASEMENT, firm in putting Akhilesh on the driving seat hence trounce was made RAMESH PARK,LAXMI NAGAR,DELHI-92 between them. Despite being aware of the power he wields in SP, Akhilesh TELE: +919871232631FAX: 011-22056817 always presented himself as amodest young man. His challenges also include ways to fulfil his poll manifesto of providing VIJAY KALANTRI - ADVISOR NEW EXCELSIOR BUILDING, 6TH FLOOR, tablets and laptops to high school and intermediate pass outs, doling out A.K. NAYAK MARG, un-employment allowance which would cause excessive burden on the FORT, MUMBAI - 400 001 (INDIA). stateexchequer. Dispelling the common perception that the Samajwadi PHONE : 91 - 22 - 2201 9265 / 2201 9160 Party led by his father Mulayam Singh Yadav had an old school mindset, FAX : 91-22- 2201 9764 / 2201 9760 Akhilesh as the party's chief campaigner emerged as its modern face in the assembly elections. The magazine is published and printed by Rajiv Agnihotri for Opinion Express Forging ahead against personal attacks from rivals, the civil environ- Communications & Entertainments Pvt ment engineer talked about development shedding SP's image of being Ltd, from 2 Ashok Nagar, Lucknow And anti-computers and anti-English. The architect of Samajwadi Party's out- printed at Kumpu Graphic Press. standing win was also firm in denying election tickets to candidates with criminal antecedents. EDITORIAL & CORPORATE OFFICE OPINION EXPRESS HOUSE Though to Akhilesh Yadav credit, he is growing in a mature mass leader 24 - A Clyde Road, Lucknow-226001 (India) Ph: 91-522-4045728/4060880 with huge fan following amongst youth in the state. He is perceived to be Fax: 91-522-2208242 the bridge between conventional ideology of samajwad and modern out- 24x7 mobility +91 9984437000x Email: [email protected] look in the party fold. Fortunately for him, he has tasted power in the past hence the present post will not make him berserk. Akhilesh remains a level headed young leader even after the coronation as Chief Minister of All content published may be subject to copyright, seek written permission to re-produce. Opinion countries largest state. Now the serious business of governance will test Express is trade mark brand of Opinion the character of rising star of Indian politics. Express Communications & Entertainment Private Limited. Prashant Tewari O P I N I O N E X P R E S S April 2012 03 APRIL 2012 COVER STORY Wake up call for national parties P 6-17 VIDYA BALAN CRACKS UP'S DEMOGRAPHIC P 18 THE SUCCESS CODE P 44 TIME BOMB U.S. Sees Iran Attacks as Likely if P 28 Israel Strikes Diet & Nutrition is Swamy in full KEEP THE CULTURE ALIVE key to Healthy P 22 support of SC P 32 THROUGH ART Living P 38 process on 2G BSNL announces the launch of Penta P 33 TPADs series of Tablets NINDY KAUR SET TO SHINE WITH P 50 NEW SINGLE FEATURING 04 April 2012 O P I N I O N E X P R E S S Genral's Letter Bomb fter age row, it's the letter bomb. There is no dearth of controversy Afor the Army chief Gen VK Singh. Although, he has reiterated that some "rogue elements" were trying to project a "schism" between him and defence minister A K Antony, the damage has already been done to the one of the world's biggest forces. Facing flak and demands for his removal over some of his comments and moves, Gen Singh issued a state- ment trying to clear the air saying that projections of schism between him and Antony was "untrue and needed to be guarded against". He said for the media to constantly project every issue as a battle between the government and the army chief is "misleading". The Army chief's attempt to further cool tempers comes a day after Antony expressed government's confidence in the service chiefs. Antony also vowed to give maximum punishment to those behind the leak of Gen Singh's letter to the Prime Minister in which he had spoken about lack of defence preparedness. Gen Singh had also issued a state- ment calling the leak a high treason and its source should be treated ruth- lessly. The Army chief, who had lost his bat- tle with the government over the age row, had recently raised the hackles of the government by giving an interview claiming he was offered Rs 14 crores in bribes to swing a sub-standard deal. The leak of the letter to the Prime Minister raised tensions between the two sides. "There have been a string of leaks culminating in the public airing of letter extension the Chief of Army Staff waters. to hon'ble Prime Minister of India," Gen (COAS) are also a part of the govern- Referring to the recent controversy Singh said. ment. over his statement on bribe, he said the He said "we are duty bound to serve "There are rogue elements in our timing pertaining to the bribe issue has our country and to protect the institu- society which have played an active role drawn considerable attention. "It is tional integrity of the army at all costs in trying to project a schism between pointed out that after the matter was even if we sometimes have to look with- the Defence Minister and the COAS. brought to the honourable Raksha in. "He said that institutional corrective This is untrue and needs to guarded Mantri's notice, certain steps had been steps were taken earlier after his talks against," he said. taken institutionally to keep a wary eye with AK Antony. Meanwhile, the govern- Gen Singh said "we have to identify on the retired officer who had offered ment today said the defence minister within the confines of the system and of the bribe. has ordered a CBI probe into a case the law and expose these (rogue) ele- "18 months later, the person resur- relating to public sector undertaking ments." faced in the beginning of March this BEML even as inquiry was on into a He said freedom of speech and indi- year and launched a smear campaign complaint about an alleged scam in vidual opinions need to be respected under the veil of anonymity alleging that purchase of Tatra trucks. but frivolous and uninformed com- the army was snooping on the Defence Gen Singh said the army and by ments on these issue only muddy the Minister of India. O P I N I O N E X P R E S S April 2012 05 COVER STORY 2012 ASSEMBLY POLLS: WAKE UP CALL FOR NATIONAL PARTIES he people have delivered their verdict and before the 2014 General elections, the message is loud and clear - a wake up call for the national parties. TSeveral factors have contributed to the SP's kitty, anti-incumbency being just one of them. The Upper Caste or Brahmin vote which had aligned with the Bahujan Samaj Party enabling it to form a Government of its own, failed to work this time. The 'Social Engineering' flopped though Chief Minister Mayawati rehabil- itated the party's Brahmin face Satish Mishra and gave tickets to large num- ber of Brahmins as the community felt that the development, if any, was con- fined to Ambedkar villages and per- ceived as provocative and wasteful the lavish spending on statues of Dalit icons.