The Congress Leak

7th June was a day full of angst for most Indians. Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohan P Tiwari convicted former Union Carbide India Chairman, Keshub Mahindra and seven others in the Bhopal gas tragedy case. The Bhopal Court awarded them a maximum of two years imprisonment, 23 years after the trial began. All eight persons applied for bail and were granted relief immediately.

Sounds almost like a joke if you were to tell anyone that 15000 people died in what was perhaps the worst industrial disaster in the world. Even more so when one hears that 89 year old Warren Anderson, the then chairman of Union Carbide Corporation of USA went scot free. Anderson lives in the United States and is still an absconder in our country.

Wait, the joke is not over yet. What if you were told that Anderson was released after being arrested. There's more, he was then put on a Madhya Pradesh Govt. plane and flown to Delhi. As dead bodies were piling up in Bhopal, Anderson was sipping tea with President Giani Zail Singh at Raisina Hill, before heading back to home sweet home.

This is a story that most knew, yet all the drama around it had long been forgotten. But Monday's verdict has once again shaken the very depths of everyone's conscience. The then Chief Minister of MP, Arjun Singh and then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi were at a rally in the state when Anderson's release was ordered. What is pretty clear from the above facts that it would not have been possible for Anderson to leave the country without taking the Centre into confidence.

Rajiv Gandhi also held the External Affairs portfolio at that time. So whether or not we like it, we will have to admit that Rajiv Gandhi knew what was happening. Many believe that the then President of the United States, Ronald Reagan himself spoke to Rajiv Gandhi and ensured Anderson's safe exit. Rajiv was made to believe that Anderson would come back later when legal proceedings against him would start. And that if Anderson was kept in Bhopal, it was very much possible that he could be lynched by the public. The state govt would not be able to control the public anger, all directed at one person. Rajiv was relatively new in politics and took the Americans at face value. So out went Anderson and 25 years later, the focus is back on 'who let Anderson go'.

The current Chief Minister of MP, Shivraj Singh Chouhan has now written to Arjun Singh asking him who let Anderson off the hook. That raises two  questions. Is Chouhan another Rip Van Winkle that he wakes up to a fact after 25 years ? The other question is more serious. What will we achieve by extraditing Anderson to India ?

What is more important for the victims of the tragedy. To see an old man being punished by the Courts, that itself could take many many more years. Probably Anderson would no more be there by then. Or do we create pressure on the Company involved through our Govt., to provide compensation to the victims and their families. If you ask the people who have lived through the horror, the overwhelming response would come for compensation first. You need to live and survive to be able to see that the perpetrators are brought to book.

So UPA-II hurriedly reconstitutes the Group of Ministers on Bhopal Gas Tragedy. This time Hime Minister P Chidambaram is made the head of the GoM replacing Arjun Singh. It also has another senior Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh Kamalnath in the group. Now we need to go back a few years to understand why these two names on the GoM have more than what meets the eye.

US giant, Dow Chemicals that bought Union Carbide in 2001 was trying hard to enter India's promising petrochemicals market in 2007. As any smart business house would do, Dow wanted to get rid of the clause which warrants that they have to pay Rs 100 crores for cleaning up the 1984 gas leak site and contaminated ground water before they can do any business in India. They wanted to get rid of the liabilities of Union Carbide that they had bought knowing fully well about the notice served to them by the Fertilizers and Chemical Ministry for the same.


Led by the Tatas, Dow reached out to the Indian Government. That instead of asking them to pay Rs 100 crore damages, Tata along with some other private sector corporates would set up a fund to clean the site in Bhopal. What this meant was the Indian Government would be making an out of court settlement to the dispute. It also led many to believe that this could also absolve Dow Chemicals of their liability to provide compensation to those victims affected by the groundwater in Bhopal. A clean chit to Dow to forget the gory past and make money in one of India's lucrative business sectors.

And who were the people pushing for Dow in India ? Tata's letter requesting Dow's entry was endorsed by the likes of P Chidambaram, Kamalnath, Abhishek Singhvi and Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Their consent was sent to the PMO to allow Dow to do business in India without clearing its liabilities of Bhopal ! And the Prime Minister has made the same person the head of the GoM who is already of the view that Dow's liabilities should be waived off.

Rajiv Gandhi did allow Anderson to fly out of India. But what was his mental frame of mind then. He had just lost his mother a month ago, he was new to politics and was busy campaigning twenty hours a day across the country during the General Elections when the disaster happened. No one knew then that it would turn into India's biggest tragedy. He is not absolved of the crime, but Im sure he would have stood up and owned responsibility. He is no more with us, but he was a man who didnt feel shy to admit that he was human. And to err is natural for humans.

But what is one to make of these senior, powerful, erudite personalities of the Congress party. Chidambaram and Kamalnath have been ministers for almost fifteen years, while Abhishek Singhvi is the party's mouthpiece in daily press briefings. They knew the full extent of Bhopal Gas Tragedy, they knew that compensation has been poor for the victims. They knew that a lot more still needs to be done to improve the conditions near the gas leak site. Yet, they agreed that Dow can be absolved of its liabilities.

So how does this reflect on UPA-II ? Is it a memory loss for the PMO that they cant seem to remember of events and letters written by important players in the Govt. just three years back ? Or is it true that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh really does bend over backwards to please the United States all the time ? Both scenarios do not look good for a Prime Minister who has always been high on integrity. And its time he responded to the situation the way we expect him to do.

The Naxal Problem

Its been quite an eventful 24 hours for Home Minister P Chidambaram since Monday, 17th May. After the Naxal attack in Dantewada, Chhattisgarh, Home Minister was busy obliging news channels of his choice by giving them interviews. A damage control exercise by him, already under fire over the handling of the Naxal menace. Dantewada proving to be a thorn for him as Naxalites struck again this Monday for the second time in a just over a month with a deadly strike rate. Over 75 CRPF personnel lost their lives on 6th April, this time almost 25 civilians and 15 tribal Special Police Officers were killed when a civilian bus was blown by Naxals.


But things were not so bad for Chidambaram till a few months ago when Operation Greenhunt was launched in November 2009. It was on 14th April this year that an unexpected criticism of his aggressive approach towards Naxals shook him and the political establishment. The word of caution came from none other than Senior Congress Leader and two time Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Digvijay Singh.

Diggi Raja as Digvijay Singh is fondly called, lashed out against an all out use of force in dealing with Naxals. He even called himself a victim of Chidambaram’s 'intellectual arrogance'. He was referring to Home Minister’s attitude to sensitive issues like the Batla House encounter in Delhi and Naxalism. There was confusion within the Congress party's ranks. No one had expected a leader of Diggi Raja's stature to take on the Home Minister publicly, especially when Parliament was in session and the UPA pushed in a corner over many other sensitive issues. The party treaded cautiously terming it as a personal comment by Digvijay Singh and left it to the higher ups to deal with the dynamics.

It’s not as if this was the first time Digvijay Singh was saying this. He has been for a more politically mature and peaceful way of dealing with the Naxal issue since 1998. He was also instrumental in successfully negotiating peace with the Naxals of Andhra Pradesh while YSR was still alive. But it was the timing that took everyone by surprise. The former CM was away in Houston attending to his ailing wife, but his mind was on Dantewada, Chhattisgarh. And he somehow had to get it out of his system.

Digvijay Singh may have not earned brownie points both from the party and his party colleague P Chidambaram, but what he managed to do was to shift the focus. From Home Minister’s thrust on aggression and Naxalism being just a law and order situation, to that of a problem with a social angle also. He spoke about the 73rd Amendment in our Constitution, PESA (The Panchayati Extension to Scheduled Areas). This Act makes special provision for Panchayats to function in such a way that they can both protect and promote tribal interests according to the spirit of the scheduled areas as enshrined in the Constitution. Unfortunately, PESA is yet to become a reality as most states have legislations to counter the actual devolution of power in scheduled areas.

Chidambaram got all support from his party and the PM after Digvijay Singh’s criticism, but the Home Minister didn’t miss the underlining theme of the Congress party. And it was evident as early as 23rd April, just nine days after Digvijay Singh’s famous article was published. Here is what Chidambaram said at a meeting of Consultative Committee of Home Affairs on 23rd April.

“The Govt will continue to follow its two pronged approach of development and calibrated police action to deal with the Naxal problem. The debate on what should take place first- development or police action- is misplaced. The decision will vary from situation to situation and from State to State and no fixed prescription is possible. In some areas, it may be possible to undertake some developmental activities, to be followed immediately by steps to strengthen security. In other areas, it may be necessary to first launch police action to regain control of the territory, followed by vigorous developmental activities.”

Some members in the Consultative Committee seemed to echo what others had dared not tell Chidambaram before Digvijay Singh. That it would be difficult to deal with Naxals without involving locals and local police. A suggestion even coming that an all party Parliamentary delegation should visit Naxal affected areas to win trust and goodwill of the people. The need for good coordination between central paramilitary forces and local police was also pointed out. It’s not as if it needed an expert to point out the basics of how to deal with Naxalism, it was all there. All it needed was a strong voice to articulate it and Digvijay Singh did just that. He of -course found a friend in Mani Shankar Aiyar who agreed a thousand percent with him.

The story gets more interesting just a day after Chidambaram’s two pronged strategy. Here is the translation of what PM, Manmohan Singh said to senior bureaucrats from across the country on Panchayati Raj Divas (24th April) in New Delhi. “We have to give special attention to remote and extreme backward areas of the country. This includes a lot of tribal areas and Panchayati Raj agencies need to work effectively to bring our schemes to them. This will help us a lot in dealing with the Naxal problem.”

So the UPA had already shifted gear in its approach to the Naxal problem just ten days after the difference of opinion became public. And that explains why Digvijay Singh was asked to meet Chidambaram in his North Block office to mend fences with each other on 7th May. Singh had earlier regretted his public attack on the Home Minister and his policy of dealing with Naxals on 29th April while he was busy with party work in Lucknow.

But it took Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s letter to party mouthpiece Congress Sandesh that finally put an end to the debate within the party. "While we must address acts of terror decisively, we have to address the root causes of Naxalism. The rise of Naxalism is a reflection of the need for our development initiatives to reach the grassroots, especially in our backward tribal districts.”

After having braved criticism within his own party, Chidambaram has been quick to adapt his policy on dealing with Naxalism. This Monday night saw him talking of ‘limited mandate’. Tuesday morning, he makes an offer of talks to Naxals again during a TV interview. BJP was quick to term him an ‘injured martyr’. But by the evening, he had sufficiently recovered. The ‘limited mandate’ meant Centre only plays a supporting role to States in law and order situations. States have ‘unlimited mandate’ and the ball was squarely put in Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh’s court.

Now I can’t help but think aloud “ Isn’t this what Digvijay Singh had said about who should be held responsible for the April 6 attack on CRPF in Dantewada ?”. But then a supremely confident Chidambaram had made the famous quote “The buck stops with me.” His offer to resign had been quickly struck down by Manmohan Singh. For once, Chidambaram must be admitting to himself. That he had to tow someone else’s line on one of his top agendas in UPA-II. And that is no mean feat by any standards.

Heal the Bill

Its the Bill that is making international headlines. Congress President Sonia Gandhi making it clear that the Women's Reservation Bill has reached the "now or never" stage. Though many people have already made the point about the bad timing of the Bill, one still cant understand why it was "bulldozed " in the Rajya Sabha.
Lack of floor coordination was amply clear and all that was needed to do was to give these dissenting MP's a chance to articulate their views. Ok, agreed that it may have taken a few more days for the Bill to go through, but wouldnt it have given the UPA floor managers more time to get their act together. Yet the fact remains that if it wasnt for Sonia Gandhi's insistence, the Bill would still be gathering dust in Parliament.
If you ever come to Vijay Chowk outside Parliament, you will find an old lady selling fruits during the day. She lives near the Kalkaji Temple, buys fresh fruits from Okhla Mandi, takes a bus to Central Secretariat and then goes about her business. She first sells to the tourists who come in buses to see Parliament, and then its the journalists, OB engineers and ofcourse the Police who are all a permanent fixture when Parliament is in session.
During the period of the three days when the fate of the Bill was still unclear, I couldnt help but think of that lady. She is in her fifties, simple and extremely hardworking. Yet she remains blissfully unaware of the landmark Bill that was passed in the Rajya Sabha. And the question that kept haunting me was " Will the likes of this lady ever make it to Parliament ?".
This Bill is being showcased as giving equal rights to women in policy making of the country. But will it make that qualitative difference that we are actually looking for ? I know one has to start somewhere, yet why does one get the feeling that the Bill is being pushed in a hurry. Its not as if India has never given women the lead role in politics. Indiraji still remains one of our longest serving Prime Ministers. Sheila Dikshit is successfully in her third term as Delhi Chief Minister, may even run for the fourth. Mayawati and Mamta Bannerjee need no introduction.
The system has given enough chance for able people to come through the ranks. But if the Bill is really aimed at the rural women, then there definitely needs to be some introspection. No denying success stories where women have changed the face of politics, but they sadly remain a small percentage. Most of the women in Panchayat posts are run by their husbands, so why not stem the rot at the grassroot level first. If we can create a system where we can actually have women doing their own thing in Panchayats, then they will anyways win on their own and no reservation will be required to help them.
Till we can involve or give people like the old lady who sells fruits at Vijay Chowk a chance or hope that they too can play a part in the decision making process, this Bill will remain fundamentally flawed. Because that lady works as hard as any other person, toiling in the sun and yet smiling. She uses her savings to buy fruits and then carries them on her head the whole day till she can sell most of it. She could have taken the easier option of selling tobacco, cigarettes, pan masala etc. Things that sell easily, and people are willing to pay a substantially higher price than the MRP for these addictions. Yet this woman prefers to sell fresh fruits, even expounding the virtues of each fruit that she sells to people she likes.
That is the fundamental change that women can bring, a sense of being upright even when easier temptations are available. All the others who sell snacks at Vijay Chowk never forget to carry pan masala and cigarettes with them, little wonder that they are all men ! Always ready to make a quick buck at the expense of other people's health, but who cares. No one, not the person buying or selling. But that woman does, yet she remains outside the ambit of the debate on the Bill.
Till we can work out a formula where we listen patiently to the reservations of various political parties, this Bill doesnt have a future. You dont have to amend the Bill to everyone's liking as that would finish the objective of the Bill, but try and accomodate as much as possible. Because at the moment, the objective may be noble and clear but the path remains confused.

The Fall of Amar Singh

So Mulayam Singh has finally accepted Amar Singh's resignation. Many questions have been raised and a few unanswered. Was Amar Singh's resignation pre planned or it came like a bolt from the blue. Such major things do not happen just like that, and this was just waiting to happen. Ever since Kalyan Singh joined hands with the SP to all the way in Firozabad byelection where Dimple lost creating a very embarrassing situation for Akhilesh Yadav. It was pretty clear that the SP had just been given a rude wake up call and the party was headed for a major shake up.
So what went wrong in a relationship that had stood the test of time. Amar Singh and Mulayam Singh were inseparable, but blood is thicker than water. The frustration of Mulayam's family over Amar Singh had been building since 2007. But things only got worse after the 2009 Lok Sabha election. SP losing out any kind of bargaining power in the Centre, while its main opposition party the BSP was ruling roost in UP.
People blame Amar Singh for bringing in Dimple and infighting that led to SP losing the prestigious Firozabad seat. But didnt the very same people realise that they were anyways heading for disaster by making Akhilesh contest from two seats of Kannauj and Firozabad. Akhilesh would have won both seats which he did, but the big question is that who would they give the ticket to when Akhilesh would vacate a seat. The SP leadership tried to take the easier way out by postponing a tough decision, hoping that things would sort themselves out on their own. The result was disastrous, the SP had to fight the Firozabad byelection with the BSP at the helm in the state. If they had given the ticket to someone else during the Lok Sabha elections, they would still have been better off as the political situation would have been much more neutral that it is in a byelection where the ruling party in the state normally has the upper hand.
Why blame Amar Singh when atleast three former MLA's of the SP from the area were instrumental in ensuring that people once again had to relive the days of SP's goondaraj during the Firozabad byelection. Apart from their image, what happened to all the money that Amar Singh had sent for the election while he was recuperating in Singapore. Can the SP wrong or even question Amar Singh's integrity in any way for his role in the byelection ?
Now to the moot question, yes its true that Amar Singh did influence the SP to such an extent that when Mulayam was taking oath in 2003 as Chief Minister of UP, people were witnessing a different Samajwad or Socialism than the one they were used to. Sahara's entire fleet had the likes of the Bachchans, Ambanis and the Nandas driving to the ceremony. The Uttar Pradesh Development Corporation and the Dadri Power Project were brain child of Amar Singh. Sadly both were non starters, Dadri is nowhere near starting while UPDC was scrapped by the BSP regime.
Kalyan Singh was perhaps Amar Singh's biggest blunder, but he did have some correct arithmetic to it. Knowing fully well that the BJP was finished and the Muslim vote was no longer as loyal to the SP. he did try to get the OBC Rajput formula going for the SP. But with muslims voting enmasse for the Congress, Amar Singh had to bear the brunt of it. So the old guard within the SP got together and started a campaign for the party to get back to its Socialist leanings that had made it a darling with the masses. Which in operational terms meant, get rid of Amar Singh.
Ram Gopal Yadav is just the face of that campaign, and Amar Singh realised the futility of his continuing with a party where he is doing all he can and is yet criticised for not doing enough. So will Amar Singh join the Congress. No, as there are few takers for him in the Congress. The best bet is for him to be on his own, and it may not take very long for Amar Singh to float his own outfit. He has the money and supporters to contest atleast 60 seats in the UP assembly election in 2012, and can even get 20 candidates elected. He could be the Raj Thackeray of the SP in the next election and anyone who stakes claim to the next Govt in UP will need his support. Amar Singh can easily tie up with NCP, Left and other regional parties and get a national status like Shankar Sinh Vaghela had after he brought down the BJP Govt in Gujarat in the 1990's. Vaghela's RJP fared badly in the next election and he or Bapu as he is fondly called was referred to as a leader without a party. But Amar Singh could do it differently, as all eyes are once again on him, as the Rajput from Azamgarh could be the king maker in UP in 2012.

The RG Factor

The Congress' brahmastra...Rahul Gandhi campaigned in UP and the party just about managed to hold onto its nine percent voteshare. So is there really a Rahul Gandhi factor or is it just hype around the young MP ??? After all...winning the Amethi seat is no big deal for the Gandhi family...so is RG...as he is called will be able to revive the Congress or is he finished...especially after the UP results ???

Any outsider will tell you that RG went to 130 assembly seats and tried hard to connect with the youth promising them a bright future. All the talk about kande se kandhe mila kar chaloonga just died at the hustings !!! But the fact is...people did come out to see him...listen to him and shake hands with him...then what went wrong...why did the Congress just manage 22 seats ???

Thats a question which the party is still groping with...but that seems to be the last thing on RG's mind. Not only did he congratulate Maya on her win but also spoke in Parliament about buliding the party organisation. Maybe RG was trying to shift the blame on the party organisation...but then isnt he also a part of the party and organisation ??? So was he actually running away from the truth ??? My take is that he was subtly taking the responsibility for the poor show.

Reports coming in also tell us that RG is meeting almost all the Congress candidates who polled over ten thousand votes...and has asked all MLA's to give him a monthly report about the status of Maya govt and feedback on their areas in general. Does this mean that Rahul is still interested in UP ??? RG may have failed to convert the votes this time...but he anyways wasnt expecting any miracle to happen. In all his statements, he talked about UP not being a one election job, but a long term haul.

So this time around...you may see a Rahul Gandhi quietly doing his job. Giving the youngsters a chance to grow and making an honest effort to revive the party in a state where caste rules the roost. His controversial statements apart, it may be too early to write off Rahul...as he also knows that if he is to keep the family legacy going...then the keys to his future lie in UP.

Its a battle for his survival...to not just take on the likes of Mulayam if he is to woo the minorities back to the Congress...but also to negate the Maya factor who is subverting the Congress formula...and it may just be a matter of time before Maya draws her sword against him...as for Rahul...miles to go before he sleeps.

Rahul vs Maya

Now that all the hurly burly is done with and the much hyped Uttar Pradesh elections are over. Its time to sit quietly and think what next for Maya...a majority in 14 years...wow !!! All the usual statistics about brahmins voting for BSP and the Congress formula being subverted etc etc is long gone. Its time to think what lies ahead for UP.

The Congress style of brahmins preaching to dalits for 40 years is gone, though the Congress did give ornamental presence to dalits in their ministries right from the days of Babu Jagjivan Ram. But now its the other way around...BSP has almost her MLA strength in the form of upper castes. That pretty much explains how Maya has come a long way to now playing a major role in national politics.

Now lets try and imagine the scenario a few months later. Maya is known to run the administration with an iron hand. She doesnt like individuals who try and create their own identity...it makes her insecure. So one should not expect to see ministers performing well as individuals. Something which could negate all of Maya's good intentions.

As far as her MLA's are concerned, we all know that the tickets did come at a price and all elected members would want to extract that price once in power. Its a natural phenomenon and one should not grudge the MLA's for doing that. Because its a simple give and take formula and thats how businesses run.

So if Im an upper caste MLA and Im trying to extract my price though government contracts or maybe some land dispute...who will I be in direct conflict with ??? At some point of time, it will be a dalit in some sphere of work...and thats when the real test for Maya will come. Will she keep her new found friends happy or will she stick to keeping her base cadre intact. She will have to take a decision because she can only keep one side happy. In either case, one side will be unhappy and thats the catch...what will the unhappy side do.

If its the upper caste...then his anger will slowly simmer as he will wait for the right moment...the dalits have been murmuring their unhappiness with maya's brahmin wooing formula for the past few months...but with a resounding win, its muted for now. If its the dalit who is left unhappy, then these murmurs will again start...it takes one small example to make it the talk of the town.

Another scenario...in the villages of UP, there is already talk of brahmin ministers touching maya's feet...this applies to all upper castes who took oath as ministers. But its the brahmin who takes his caste more seriously...earlier he was in conflict with the Yadav who used to trumpet around the village when Mulayam was in power. The Yadavs gaining power led to major resentment within brahmins, which is why they decided to teach Mulayam a lesson by voting for maya. Now the Yadav sits next to the paan shop extolling the virtues of brahmins...especially the latest feet touching move. That will never go down well with the brahmins at large, but the Yadav will keep reminding the brahmins of their glorious past with today...and would be loving every moment of it.

Maya's unexpected victory is also because in my view, its an unnatural combination. Both cannot be happy at the same time. Earlier the brahmins had their way...but now the dalits are extremely aware of their rights and status. Its upto the brahmins to be more resilient if this unnatural combination has to slowly find a workable solution. So will Maya be able to defend her citadel...will she able to keep this jadui tilism going ??? Thats a million dollar question and we do know that she really really wants this combination to work...because now she has bigger plans...to ascend the throne in delhi...use these five years to grow in stature from a regional player to gaining acceptancy at the national level. Use this combination in other states and then stake claim in Delhi. If she can keep her flock together in UP for five years...then be rest assured that she could well be addressing the country from Lal Qila in the near future. The Congress better watch out !!!

No Reservations

I was just surfing through news channels on Wednesday 26th April. Almost all the channels had the medical students agitation as their top story. Im not much of a news person to comment on that, but its a debate which needs to carry on. Most of us in our late twenties, we were in school or even younger when the Mandal politics began. At that time , all we understood was that something had gone horribly wrong and our future would be in jeopardy. But now most of us have gone through the grind and more or less settled in our own professions.

Keeping the past in perspective, one must keep in mind that its the OBC's, SC's and ST's form the majority of the country. Is there actually anything wrong in Arjun Singh giving them more reservation ? My initial response would be a vehement yes. But afterthoughts make you start thinking. I come from one of the villages in the outskirts of Kanpur district in Uttar Pradesh. I was lucky enough that my parents gave me good education so I can earn a good living. But whenever I go back home and see my playmates with whom I shared almost everything as a kid. I get the sense of a deep divide between us. Because they were not so well off, they are doing whatever little they can to earn their living. When I try to strike a conversation with them, they seem to be ill at ease, and thats when the feeling of division creeps in. For all I know, they may be hating me for it. Despite my honest intentions, its possible some may think Im just talking to them to rub it in or make them feel inferior.

My gut feeling is that we cant stop the inevitable, reservations are here to stay, and why not ? Most people from villages do not have the kind of access we have. If they are given the same opportunity, theres no reason why they shouldnt be rubbing shoulders with the best. So many bright kids have had their studious fire doused by the need to survive and earn a living. We need to realise that they are one of us. If we could play with them and be best of friends in our childhood, then its disheartening to know we moved ahead only because we had the finances and they didnt. After all every now and then, we do hear of some success stories in small towns.

The IIM's and the IIT's need to move to other countries to earn that valuable foreign exchange. This needs to be pumped into the domestic circuit for more seats in schools and colleges. If we can double the number of seats in most places, then we will have almost nullified the Mandal effect. If I were to do an agitation today, it would be for increasing the number of seats in educational institutions rather than against reservation. This will not only blur the caste divide between the youth, but all of us together can create more pressure, forcing Mr Arjun Singh to yield. Its high time we sent a message to politicians that the Britishers have long gone and so should their divide and rule policy, because united we stand.

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