Tuesday, March 5, 2013

North Block Moves

UPA hopes there will be no trouble once the verdict is out but is leaving little to chance, says B&E’s Pramod Kumar

The ghost of Ayodhya is looming large on the minds of the ruling coalition. In the last meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), chaired by the Prime Minister, Home Minister P. Chidambaram was briefed about the possible deployment of paramilitary forces to handle the turbulent situation in J&K and to tackle the Maoists. Someone raised the question of possible deployment of security forces in the wake of the upcoming verdict of the Allahabad High Court on the Ram Janmabhoomi issue. The meeting was unanimously chaired to discuss that the government could not afford to repeat the mistake of the Narasimha Rao government. Caution was the need of the hour. During the meeting, Chidambaram briefed the CCS members about preparations of the Home Ministry to tackle any sort of situation that might arise after the court verdict.

The government has listed 35 sensitive cities where communal harmony could be jeopardised. Therefore, an additional secretary-level officer has been deputed to monitor the situation particularly in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand. The Centre has sent an advisory to these states to be on their guard.

The Centre has assured Uttar Pradesh of all help in case things threaten to get out of hand. Though the government has clearly stated that it is not possible to send 400 battalions keeping in view the tight security arrangements for the Commonwealth Games, it would try to do its best to provide all the support that the UP administration might need.

Sources in the UPA reveal that the government has conducted a survey through local Intelligence agencies. What concerns the Congress think-tank is the political battle that will be fought. The party has sought parallel reports from state Congress units. On the basis of these reports, Sonia Gandhi has advised the government to make foolproof arrangements to handle any eventuality.

The BJP and RSS are understandably hopeful of making political capital out of the issue once more. The Congress believes that if the verdict goes in favour of the Waqf Board, then it would be easy to handle the situation.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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