PRESIDENT OBAMA

 `ARRESTED’!  

By SUNNY THOMAS

Will someone tell her she is the Chief Minister of Bengal? For one, the Governor actually forgot to tell her that when she takes the oath as Chief Minister, she in fact becomes the Chief Minister. The coterie around her is keeping it a closely guarded secret for reasons better known for them. Not even our honest Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seems to have communicated it to her.

 

The rumour mills have it that all foreign dignitaries from President Barack Obama to President Asif Ali Zardari, from Russian Prime Minister (and President-elect) Vladimir Putin to French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and from Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadineja to Maldives President Mohammed Waheed are avoiding destination Kolkata for fear of getting arrested by Mamata Banerjee.  Just imagine, American newspapers coming out with the banner headline: PRESIDENT OBAMA ARRESTED IN KOLKATA! Cartoonists the world over have stopped cartooning Mamata for fear of Trinamul Fatwa!   

Strangely, she still blames instead of taking the blame on herself as a responsible leader! By the time she understands the Chief Minister’s role is different from that of the Opposition leader, she would actually be sitting in the opposition. And Brinda Karat, her successor, would be unveiling a statue of Mamata in the Writers’ Building for helping the Marxists to come back to power so soon.   

In Bengal, the police are the final arbiter of the freedom of the Press, and Jayalalithaa and Navin Patnaik, too, would like to strengthen the democracy by adopting this commendable policy in their respective states. When Jaya and Navin are at it, can Modi be far behind? 

  

What bedevils his critics is that Narendra Modi emerges cleaner and cleaner after every inquiry commission report, as if he is a model for the best detergent soap advertisement that claims to wash the toughest stains in a matter of minutes. Short of declaring nothing happened in Gujarat in 2002, commission after commission has upheld the exemplary conduct of Modi. At this rate, by 2014 Modi will be India’s cleanest political leader ever after the Father of the Nation.

Politics always has its comedy of errors. Tiger Raj Thackeray roared at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar daring him enter his den, Mumbai. Pat came the retort that he needs no visa (read, Raj’s courtesy) to visit any part of India. In effect, Nitish caught the tiger by its tail that fortunately did not come off!

Count Akhilesh Yadav among the sensible leaders (forget for a moment Raja Bayya and his party goon’s). Like Nitish, he keeps away from vendetta politics and engages himself with the development of his state.

Where is the Indian democracy heading for? Will it be hijacked by a pack of predators whose rapacious capacity for bloodshed rivals Pol Pot’s and Hitler’s? Will the House of Adam Smith that Manmohan Singh built be demolished overnight? Will India, the most favoured country after China to attract foreign capital, witness a drought, dashing the hope of millions for better standards of living – more jobs and upward mobility?