Dominique Strauss-Kahn: French Socialists uneasy as he is returning!

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With Due Acknowledgement To: Reuters / ibnlive.in.com / Posted on Sep 02, 2011 at 07:17am IST.

 

Paris: France's Socialists are distancing themselves from Dominique Strauss-Kahn as the ex-IMF chief, once their best-placed presidential contender but now dogged by sex assault accusations, prepares to return from the United States.

With elections eight months away, the main opposition party is torn between old loyalties and the desire to shield itself from Strauss-Kahn's tarnished reputation, after a poll showed two thirds of French voters do not want him in government.

US prosecutors have dropped charges that Strauss-Kahn tried to rape a New York hotel maid. But the 62-year-old still faces a civil case and an accusation of attempted rape by a woman 30 years his junior back in France.

He has promised to offer the French an explanation when he returns, possibly as early as this weekend.

In the three months since police pulled Strauss-Khan off a plane in New York, several of his most loyal allies have deserted him to back other left-wingers hoping to unseat conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The maneuvering has shifted up a gear in the days since the US charges were dropped, leaving the former finance minister free to leave the country.

French media say he is due back on Sunday and Francois Pupponi, mayor of the town that long served as Strauss-Kahn's political base, said he would be home by early next week.

Martine Aubry, a leading Socialist contender for the April presidential election, sought to distance herself from Strauss-Kahn in TV appearances this week, saying she shared the feelings of other women about his behavior toward the female sex.

While careful to underscore that she defends the presumption of innocence, her allusion was interpreted by French media as a signal that she would not let herself be hurt by association.

"I've always said this: first there's the presumption of innocence and secondly I think the same thing as many women regarding Strauss-Kahn's attitude to women," Aubry told Canal+.

Allies flock to Hollande, Aubry

Of Strauss-Kahn's closest allies, Pierre Moscovici, a former Socialist minister, has dropped him to become campaign coordinator for the left's new favorite, Francois Hollande, and veteran leftist Jean-Christope Cambadelis is backing Aubry.

Jean-Marie Le Guen, a Socialist lawmaker who was vocal in his support of Strauss-Kahn just after his arrest in May, and another old ally, Lyon Mayor Gerard Collomb, have also joined Hollande's camp.

"The fact is: as soon as (Strauss-Kahn) appears, he will be seen as the man who had sex with a New York hotel maid," said a Socialist party official close to Aubry.

Others with less at stake in the upcoming election campaign have been more blunt, notably Michel Rocard, a former prime minister who is no longer a kingmaker in Socialist politics.

Rocard ruffled feathers on Monday when he said of Strauss-Kahn on Canal+ TV: "The man obviously has a mental illness, trouble controlling his impulses. He's out of the game. It's a shame. He had real talent, that's true."

An opinion poll published last weekend suggested that about two-thirds of French voters do not wish to see Strauss-Kahn take a government role if the Socialists take power in next year's presidential and parliamentary elections.

The Ifop poll, conducted on August 25-26, following the dropping of criminal charges in New York, nonetheless showed that about half of pro-Socialist respondents would be happy to see him take up a ministerial post.

Right now, the more pressing worry is the Socialists' mid-October primary contest than Socialist hopes of unseating Sarkozy and his government next year.

An OpinionWay-Fiducial poll for Le Figaro and LCI published on Thursday showed that 44 percent of voters from the Left would vote for Hollande in the primary, with 30 percent choosing Aubry.

Arnaud Montebourg, another contender in the Socialist primary, said Strauss-Kahn should apologize to party colleagues and voters in the same way he did with International Monetary Fund staff in Washington.

"He should make the same gesture after the toll we have all had to bear in this affair," Montebourg told.

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RICHEST TEMPLE: Politics over Padmanabhaswamy temple!

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Dakshina Muraleedharan, CNN-IBN / Updated Aug 23, 2011 at 08:54am IST.

Thiruvananthapuram: The row over the Padmanabhaswamy temple wealth has now taken a political colour. Political parties have reacted strongly to former Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan's allegations against the Travancore royal family.

The CPM stalwart had accused the present head of the erstwhile Travancore royal family of smuggling out precious articles from the temple.

Opposition leader Achuthanandan said, "Don't you know that Marthanda Varma goes to the temple every day? When he returns, he carries a tiffin box. The perception is that he brings 'payasam'. But it is not that. Instead, it is jewels. I was told this by one of the former priests, who lost his job after he found out".

The Congress-led UDF government has slammed Achuthanandan, calling the remark unbecoming of his stature.

Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said, "It was not right for Achuthanandan to speak like this. I am stating what the public in Kerala feels."

Full Story at,

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/kerala-politics-over-padmanabhaswamy-temple/177761-62-126.html

INDIAN POLITICIANS: Lost in the woods - By Ramachandra Guha!

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Hindustan Times / August 14, 2011.

In August 2010 — that is, exactly a year ago — Rahul Gandhi told a group of tribals in Orissa that he would be their soldier in New Delhi. There is no record of his having acted on that promise. The Dongria Konds of Niyamgiri forgotten, his attention has more recently been focused on the Jats of Noida, and other such groups that might help the Congress make a strong showing in the Uttar Pradesh elections.

Rahul Gandhi’s behaviour is characteristic of the political class as a whole, which — regardless of party or generation — has treated tribals with condescension. The neglect goes back to Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi worked hard to abolish untouchability, and harder to bring about Hindu-Muslim harmony.

He inspired tens of thousands of women to enter public life. Somehow, however, the adivasis never figured seriously in the Mahatma’s programmes of social reform. This failure was reproduced by his colleagues and successors in the Congress party.

Despite their neglect by the national movement, tribals were one of two groups recognised by the Constitution as needing special consideration. The other were the Dalits, whose problems were given great visibility by their own leaders, such as BR Ambedkar, and by upper-caste reformers such as Gandhi.

As for the tribals, where the Congress had failed, it was activists like Jaipal Singh and Verrier Elwin who brought their problems to wider attention. Hence the reservation of seats in Parliament and of jobs in government for adivasis as well as Dalits.

As we mark our 65th Independence Day, how many Indians, I wonder, recognise the fact that tribals have gained least and lost most from India being a free and democratic country?  Viewed historically, the tribals have faced seven successive (and overlapping) tragedies:

First, they live in India’s densest forests, along its fastest-flowing rivers, and atop its richest veins of iron ore and bauxite. As the country has industrialised, the tribals have lost their homes and livelihoods to logging projects, dams, and mines which are directed by and benefit more powerful social forces;

Second, there has never been an adivasi Ambedkar, a leader of pan-Indian significance who could give hope and inspiration to tribals everywhere;

Third, the tribals are demographically concentrated in a few hill districts, and hence do not constitute a vote bank whose voice can, at least symbolically, be attended to by the political class. There is a striking contrast here with Dalits (as well as Muslims), who are more evenly distributed across India, have a far greater impact on the outcome of state and national elections, and are hence treated with far greater respect by national parties;

Fourth, a large share of officers’ jobs under the ‘Scheduled Tribes’ quota, as well as reserved seats in the more prestigious colleges, go to the tribals of the North-east, who have a greater facility with the English language as well as access to better schools. This geographical distortion in the distribution of benefits calls perhaps for a revision of the category of ‘Scheduled Tribes’, to privilege the adivasis of central India;

Fifth, since they are without adequate representation in the higher civil service and without a political voice anyway, the tribals are subject to harsh treatment by the officials of the forest, police, revenue, education and health departments, who are obliged by law to serve the adivasis but oriented in practice to harass and exploit them. One consequence of this, as the demographer Arup Maharatna has shown, is that while Dalits have poor access to education and healthcare, adivasis are even worse off in these respects;

Full Story at,

http://www.hindustantimes.com/Lost-in-the-woods/H1-Article1-733328.aspx

KARNATAKA POLITICS: Jagadish Shettar's price: Two deputies!

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August 6, 2011 / DC, Bengaluru.

With the Ananth Kumar-Jagadish Shettar camp refusing to back down over demands for the posts of two deputy chief ministers as well as 18-22 portfolios including finance, the BJP government under its new chief minister D V Sadananda Gowda continues to be in crisis.

A party source said they believed the Ananth Kumar camp was using the demand for the Deputy CMs posts for R Ashok and Shettar as a bargaining ploy and that their main aim was to wrest the finance and industry portfolios for their camp, adding “they knew very well that the high command will not accept the demand for DCM posts.”

However highly placed sources in the party said the rival B.S. Yeddyurappa camp had now stepped up attempts to break the Kumar-Shettar camp.

Former minister, M.P. Renukacharya, has reportedly sent feelers to some 20 MLAs including the 10 rebel MLAs, reinstated in the aftermath of the Supreme Court order. The sources also said that party senior leaders in New Delhi discouraged Mr. Shettar from coming to Delhi, telling him to sort out differences in Bengaluru.

The former chief minister said to be formulating his own list of nominees, strongly opposed the proposal by the Reddy brothers to induct their associates as proxies in the cabinet.

Full Story at,

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/bengaluru/jagadish-shettars-price-two-deputies-630

KARNATAKA POLITICS: Breakfast diplomacy: Sadananda reaches out to Shettar!!

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Radhika Iyer, Updated: August 04, 2011 12:01 IST.

Bangalore:  "My big smile will last for 22 months," said the man who will formally take over as Chief Minister of Karnataka today. Sadananda Gowda, 54, will have to work hard to keep that famous grin in place. (Read: Who is Sadananda Gowda?) 

Close to 55 of the BJP's 121 MLAs in Karnataka are considering boycotting Mr Gowda's swearing-in, scheduled for 4 pm.  These MLAs are loyal to BJP General Secretary Ananth Kumar, who tried to have his candidate, Jagadish Shettar, elected as the new Chief Minister.  Mr Shettar lost the vote conducted yesterday by secret ballot by 12 votes. 

"We have not been invited to the swearing-in," said Mr Shettar, who is the Rural Development Minister. "After we get the invite, we will think about it," he said.  A minister close to Mr Shettar said that he has refused an offer to serve as the Deputy Chief Minister.  The Shettar camp had breakfast this morning at his home.  Bang next door lives Mr Gowda, who decided to drop in for breakfast at his rival's home -  a gesture of goodwill that could go a long way in bridging the gap.

The 22 months that Mr Gowda referred to is how long the BJP has before Karnataka votes again.  The party is trying to balance caste equations in the state.  Mr Gowda is a Vokkaliga, the second-largest community in Karnataka.  Mr Shettar on the other hand belongs to the Lingayat community which makes up a powerful votebank.  

Having the top two communities represented at the highest levels of government would possibly come as close as the BJP can get to keeping everyone happy. Now if only Mr Shettar would cooperate.  "I have seen more turbulence when I was BJP president (in the state)," said Mr Gowda today.  

 

Full Story at,

http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/55-bjp-mlas-to-boycott-sadananda-gowda-s-swearing-in-ceremony-124146?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NdtvNews-TopStories+%28NDTV+News+-+Top+Stories%29

DMK TOP-LEADER SPEAKS OUT: Poll defeat worrying me, says Alagiri!

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PTI / The Hindu / MADURAI, July 3, 2011.

M.K. Alagiri.

Breaking his silence over the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s debacle in the recent Assembly elections, Union Minister and party strongman M.K. Alagiri on Sunday said the defeat is worrying him and regretted that the charge of family politics was aired more by partymen than the rivals.

“Unfortunately DMK party was being criticised more by our own partymen than Opposition leaders or workers for family politics,” he said in a candid admission that there was discontent among workers and that issues including 2G spectrum allocation and family domination led to its rout.

“The defeat is worrying me. It was only in Madurai that maximum number of people benefited by various welfare schemes of the DMK Government. Even then we got defeated... In fact I have helped even the opposition party members and leaders,” Mr. Alagiri said.

No apologies for their party Ministers and MPs having been corrupt, which was the root cause of the DMK's routing?

Full Story at,

http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article2156125.ece