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Tuesday,
December 10, 2002, Chandigarh, India  
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GUJARAT ELECTIONS Gandhinagar, December 9 Till a few years ago it was a thriving sector. It enjoyed the trust of hundreds of thousands of middle and upper-middle class Gujaratis, including traders, small-scale manufacturers and professionals. But now, things have changed. The common Gujarati has been hit hard by this shocking scam and people want to hit back at the BJP for letting it happen to them. Although all political parties at one point or the other have had a hand in the cooperative banks over the years, but the unfortunate revelation during the tenure of Narendra Modi government and the subsequent inaction is what is becoming hard for the people to digest. According to figures available here, the 358 cooperative banks in Gujarat had a network of over 1,100 branches across the state and approximately Rs 18,000 crore and $ 3.7 billion in deposits. Thanks to the series of scandals which have hit the state
cooperative banks, more than Rs 6,000 crore have gone missing from their kitty. Of the 358 cooperative banks over 40 are on the brink of bankruptcy and 18 have already shut up shop. Besides, more than 30 banks are unable to honour cheques even for amounts as less as Rs 500. There has been a serious erosion in the credibility of the cooperative banks in Gujarat. There is anger among the people as the Modi government has not been successful in punishing the guilty. The government says that it is not responsible for the scam as every bank had its own directors and chairmen. But people refuse to digest this as there is a Registrar of Cooperative Societies who is appointed by the government and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the cooperative banks. The Registrar is supposed to carry out the audit of bank deposits after every three months. Incidentally, till two days ago, when the Congress raised the issue of the cooperative bank scam, none of the main political parties discussed
The near-collapse of the cooperative banking sector, once the engine of Gujarat’s economy, was not an issue for the political parties. Putting sudden brakes on the economic growth was of little consideration to the political parties. People in Gandhinagar call it a “conspiracy of silence”. Once some of the NGOs started putting up hoardings in this regard, Rajya Sabha MP Suresh Pachauri raised the issue for the first time. Then, Congress President Sonia Gandhi picked up the issue and criticised the BJP for the scam in her rallies here on Sunday. The BJP has not been able to counter it effectively so far. It may be mentioned that the fall of the Gujarat’s cooperative banking sector began with the fall of Ketan Parekh. The Madhavpura Bank, which mainly served the grocers and spice merchants, had given over Rs 800 crore to Parekh without the statutory approval of the board of directors. People started to queue up to withdraw their hard-earned money from the banks but there was none. People allege that despite several complaints the local government refused to take action against the guilty as suggested by the RBI and the Registrar of Cooperatives Societies. |
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GUJARAT
ELECTIONS
Ahmedabad, December 9 By attacking Musharraf, Mr Modi is not only trying to cater to the emotions of the Hindu community but he also seemingly playing a bigger political game — to make himself the rallying point of the forces that subscribe to the Sangh Parivar ideology. He is trying to get himself recognised as a leader of the Hindu “rashtra”, which the forces like the VHP openly propagate. The Congress on its part is trying to counter the Musharraf factor by posing several questions to Mr Modi and the BJP. Who provided legitimacy to Musharraf as military President? Who invited Musharraf to India? Who arranged guard of honour for him at Rashtrapati Bhavan in India? Who sat across the table with him to negotiate various issues? The BJP did it all, the Congress says. To divert people’s attention from Mr Modi’s plank, the Congress has tried to project unemployment, drought, suicide by farmers, rising prices, high cost of power etc as the main problems of Gujaratis. To some extent, the Congress has succeeded on this front. But the Musharraf factor is working in the BJP’s favour at least in major urban centres. Mr Modi is contesting from the Maninagar constituency. He shifted to this constituency from Rajkot-II where he had won the byelection with a huge margin. The Congress has put up Mr Yatin Oza, a senior advocate of the high court, who was elected last time on BJP ticket but quit to join the Congress three years ago following differences with Mr Keshubhai Patel, the then Chief Minister. Mr Yatin is far sharper than Mr Modi. He is a powerful speaker. In a normal election, which the present one is not, Mr Yatin would have given Mr Modi sleepless nights. At an election meeting which was addressed, among others, by Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Mr Yatin’s focused attack on Mr Modi and his Musharraf thesis, were convincing. He said there was more danger to the country from the BJP and the VHP. Capt Amarinder Singh asserted that with the defeat of the BJP in Gujarat, the NDA government would collapse at the Centre. High-flying leaders India is largely inhabited by the poor. But how rich its leaders have become one can guess from the way private planes and helicopters are being used in Gujarat to carry heavyweight politicians. The authorities concerned at the local airport said they had no space to park planes and choppers. Already, the airport was overcrowded. Officials have become tired of handling the rush of private flights not only at the airport here but also elsewhere. |
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GUJARAT
DIARY
Ahmedabad, December 9 The contest for the December 12 Assembly elections in Gujarat is no different except for the fact that the war this time is also being fought on a religious television channel. Knowing the religious bent of mind of the Gujaratis, the BJP and the Congress have targeted a religious channel here to reach out to the masses. The viewers are bombarded with election-related advertisements. The war is more intense in the morning when most Gujaratis are glued to the particular religious channel. Both the BJP and the Congress try to muscle the other out to get more slots at this time. The story is not any different on other channels though the war is less intense than what is being witnessed on the religious channel. However, the BJP definitely has an edge on some of the channels and has cornered most of the prime-time slots. For many scribes covering the rallies of Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday, the hospitality of the party came as a major surprise. Many had not banked on getting such a reception on landing for the rally. The overzealous Congress workers went out of the way to ensure good publicity for the party president. Not only were the scribes treated to the best sight of Ms Sonia Gandhi but were also rewarded for being there. Without possibly realising the consequences of such an act, some of the Congress workers went about distributing envelopes to the mediapersons. While several just kept them in their pockets, some others who opened them found currency notes inside. Some of the scribes returned the Congress “hospitality” while some others graciously accepted it. Elections and marriages don’t normally go together for they are both different cups of tea. However, here in Gujarat there is an unusual blend of election and marriage season. Along with the decked up trucks of candidates, there are innumerable decorated cars carrying marriage parties. From bouquets atop the cars to “kalash” with coconut in it are being used for decoration. The most fascinating however, are the special chariots carrying bride-grooms. While candidates continue with their
electioneering on one side of the road, the marriage parties pass by unfazed.  |
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