statesman news service
HYDERABAD, 13 JUNE: TDP president N Chandrababu Naidu (file photo) today once again voiced his confidence about the emergence of a ‘Federal Front’, but this time largely to pre-empt any demand in the party that the TDP sail with the BJP in the 2014 elections.
“It is only a matter of time in the sense that the front, by whichever name you call it, would emerge either as a result of a pre-poll alliance or a post-poll one,” he told reporters.
Mr Naidu has been looking at a non-Congress and non-BJP front pretty keenly in the recent past. Ever since it was clear that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi would be the BJP&’s prime ministerial candidate, a chunk in the party prefer the TDP to go with the BJP as the latter is expected to gain considerably in Andhra Pradesh due to the “Modi factor”.
Their argument is that the minorities continue to be ill disposed to the TDP and so is the secular voter. “In this scenario it would be a win-win situation for the TDP and the BJP to ally rather than tread the time tested and pretty weak path with the Left,” a senior leader told The Statesman.
It is this kind of intra-party talk that Mr Naidu wants to stifle. He still does not want to distance the minorities irrespective of the percentage who favour him. And the past experience has shown that the BJP is a far tougher customer than any ally in the Third Front.
Significantly, Mr Naidu claimed that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is in touch with him. Sources, however, emphatically said neither Ms Banerjee nor Mr Naidu have spoken to each other regarding this in the recent past.
Mr Naidu also claimed that he is in touch with all the important leaders who want to be part of this formation. “As and when it is formed you will get to know about it, and also about who will play a role in its formation,”
he said.

The Congress as a party ought to be dissolved, for it was party to Britain&’s Imperial agenda. However, that is not what is on Modi’s mind, writes rajinder puri
In his opening 50-minute speech immediately after being declared Chairman of the BJP National Campaign Committee, Mr Narendra Modi gave a clarion call to his party workers. He said India should be developed by liberating the nation from the Congress. He sought a Congress- mukt nirmaan. This was like music to my ears. Readers would recall that this writer has repeatedly said that the Congress as an institution should be buried, even though Congress leaders may continue to rule the nation. This demand is made because the Congress acted as Imperial Britain&’s political instrument for partitioning India. To undo the spirit of Partition, it is necessary to discard the instrument that was used by Britain for achieving it. My demand echoes the last wish expressed by Mahatma Gandhi in his will released on the day of his assassination. He wanted the Congress as a political party to be dissolved.
Burying the Congress implies discarding much of its political and cultural legacy that has overwhelmed India&’s entire political and elite class. It implies a ruthless reappraisal of the political icons of the so-called freedom struggle worshiped by all sections of Indian society. It implies a searching probe into the respective roles of these icons in dividing Punjab and Bengal and their impotence in anticipating or preventing the horrendous bloodbath that followed the Partition.
It implies a critical appraisal of whether the two lawyers from Gujarat ~ Gandhi and Jinnah ~ or the two feudal lords from Uttar Pradesh ~ Nehru and Liaquat Ali ~ were at all acquainted with the ground realities of the provinces they tore apart. It implies the ability to acknowledge that our former icons were not Gods but human; even if they were great humans, it is human to err and they erred grievously.
It implies that the popular myth that Jinnah was responsible for Partition be rubbished. It implies that Britain&’s central role in achieving Partition by successfully manipulating Gandhi, Jinnah, Nehru, Liaquat and Sardar Patel is recognised and acknowledged on the basis of the irrefutable evidence available. It implies that to rid the nation of the Congress legacy, nothing less than a peaceful, democratic, cultural revolution is required. Ridding India of the Congress implies all this and more.
Does Mr Narendra Modi imply all this when he seeks Congress- mukt nirmaan? Or is it that all he seeks is to defeat the Congress led by Mrs Sonia Gandhi in a general election? That is what seems
likely.
If he were really committed against the Congress culture and legacy, he would not make haste to erect the tallest statue of Sardar Patel, whose role in allowing the Partition and colluding with the shameful betrayal of the secular Muslims of Punjab and Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan in NWFP cannot be glossed over. There is considerable historical evidence that has yet to attain public attention.
Undoubtedly, the truth and the whole truth will come out. Undoubtedly, the people of Punjab and Bengal will fight to propagate this truth and reclaim their cultural identities across national frontiers. Undoubtedly, such a movement for transparency and truth will prevail.
Mr Modi&’s party went berserk over Mr Advani&’s opportunistic remarks during his visit to Pakistan extolling Jinnah, who was Winston Churchill&’s puppet. Mr Advani deserves no kind words for his praise of Jinnah. But do the leaders of Mr Modi&’s party not deserve censure for continuing to distort history and propagate falsehood?
For a start, let them endorse the demand of the Central Information Commission (CIC) that the government should release and make public the speeches delivered by Jinnah over All India Radio prior to Independence. The CIC head Mr Satyananda Mishra said that time has come when all information relating to the pre-Independence period should be made public.
He said, “It is easy for any public authority to take the stand that everything relating to Pakistan or the leaders who went over to Pakistan should be kept secret or confidential and invoke the provisions of Section 8(1) (a) and not disclose the details. This will be a regressive stand.”  He added that history students and the general public have the right to know.
The question is: Do Mr Modi and his colleagues want to know?

The writer is a veteran journalist and cartoonist. He blogs at www.rajinderpuri.wordpress.com
 

press trust of india

LONDON, 12 JUNE: Indian contemporary art set new records at a Christie&’s auction here, fetching 4.7 million pounds through the sale of paintings by celebrated artists like Vasudeo S Gaitonde, Tyeb Mehta and M F Husain.
The highlight of the South Asian and Contemporary Art sale at the auction house yesterday was a major untitled work by abstract artist Gaitonde which sold for 625,875 pounds, with all his paintings going under the hammer for over 1.2 million pounds.
The collection had emerged on the auction circuit for the first time in 50 years and many of them have been acquired by a private art collector.
Some of them will now be seen next as part of a major retrospective on Gaitonde at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2014.
The exhibition is also expected to travel to the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.
Another well-known contemporary Indian artist, Husain, was also a major highlight of the show with some of his horse series and landscapes fetching over half a million pounds.
However, a rare work by the artist, titled ‘Ganga Jamuna’ from the ‘Mahabharata’ series and estimated to fetch over 600,000 pounds, failed to meet the reserve price and remained unsold.
The Christie&’s sale coincided with Husain&’s birth centenary year and included 19 of the famous painter&’s works. Nine of those went under the hammer for just under 1 million pound.
Among some of the other key works, Francis Newton Souza&’s ‘Red Houses’ was the toast of his selection, with all his seven paintings raising nearly 600,000 pounds. Street scenes and Rajasthani paintings by Syed Haider Raza also attracted major buyers, selling for over 400,000 pounds.
Simple scenes capturing Indian life seemed to attract a lot of attention with a sketch by Mehta titled ‘Head’ selling for 18,750 pounds and Subodh Gupta&’s ‘Train Station’ for 7,500 pounds.
The auction formed part of the Arts of India sale during London Indian Art Week at Christie&’s, which also included a large selection of fine classical paintings ~ from 17th century Mughal portraits to Rajput, Pahari and Company school paintings.

Parent ‘company’ plays the honest broker
SIR, ~   This is with reference to the report, “RSS brokers ceasefire” (12 June). Narendra Modi has welcomed L K Advani&’s U-turn within 24 hours. The latter has agreed to withdraw his resignation from party posts on the “advice” of the RSS chief. “I will personally address whatever complaints Advaniji has,”  is the assurance given by the BJP president, Rajnath Singh. It appears that the RSS chief, Mohan Bhagwat, forced Mr Advani to withdraw his resignation.
There is little doubt that Mr Advani wanted to become the Prime Minister. That dream has been shattered with the anointment of  Mr. Modi as the party&’s election campaign chief. There may be hope yet for Mr Advani as the Gujarat Chief Minister is yet to be projected as the BJP&’s prime ministerial candidate. And this could have prompted him to withdraw his resignation.
Mr Advani is known for such theatrics.  It bears recall that he had resigned from the party posts in the wake of the controversy over his praise for Mohammed Ali Jinnah.
yours, etc., s s paul, chakdaha (nadia), 12 june.

Is BJP digging its own grave?
SIR, ~ Mr LK Advani&’s resignation from party posts, which has now been withdrawn, would have harmed the Bharatiya Janata Party, which in the aftermath of the Goa conclave seems to be digging its own grave, and ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
  The octogenarian leader ought to have realised the damage his decision could cause to a party and the ideology that he has nurtured for a considerable period of his life. As an astute leader, he could well have sorted out the contentious issues through discussions.
  He ought also to have realised that nothing is permanent in this world, and it is a law of nature that the old gives place to the new. And a combination of young and  old leaders can benefit the party.
Narendra Modi is relatively young and can be trusted to preserve and protect the standing of the BJP in the political spectrum. Mr Advani will hopefully guide the party which, in the popular perception, can be an alternative to the thoroughly corrupt Congress.
yours, etc., s p sharma, mumbai, 11 june.

A Cong-BJP national govt
SIR, ~ My long-cherished desire is to see the Congress forming a national government in league with the BJP at the Centre. There is no major difference in the policies, programmes or even in the mode of functioning of the two parties. Both are nationalistic and democratic in their political philosophy.
 National integrity, international peace and cooperation, independence of the judiciary and , secularism are the guiding principles of both parties. To the Congress, secularism means dharma-nirapekshata and to the BJP it is a positive concept of sarba-dharma-sambhaba. Academic differences can be sorted out through discussions.
A strong, stable and responsible national government will be able to address both domestic and foreign policy issues, ensure progress and prosperity, and check horse-trading. There will be no need to appease any community for demographic dividend. Regional and caste-based parties will lose their clout, and this will minimise separatist tendencies.
Admittedly, a Congress-BJP national government will have to contend with certain inherent faultlines. But the system will definitely be better than the one that now exists. The people are tired of the Congress forming coalition governments with smaller parties with a very limited perspective.
yours, etc., ranjit kar, kolkata, 17 june.

Megalomania
SIR, ~ As an NRI living in the  UK, it was sad to see Mr LK Advani resigning from the party posts and in an emotionally-charged atmosphere. Instead of openly nurturing a desire to become the next Prime Minister, he ought to have handed over the reigns of power either to the younger Sushma Swaraj or Arun Jaitley after he turned 80. If he had done so, he could have avoided his predicament within the party.
  But politicians being politicians, they believe that they are indestructible and they often suffer from megalomania. But let me assure Mr Advani that the same reasons which defeated the BJP in the last two general elections will also inflict another defeat on the party under Narendra Modi in 2014.
yours, etc., m riaz hasan, middlesex (uk), 11 june.

Online RTI applications
SIR, ~ The decision of the Centre&’s Department of Personnel and Training to introduce online RTI applications and appeals is welcome. Citizens can now seek information and expose corruption at the click of a mouse. The facility ought to  be extended to the departments of the Delhi government, the courts, public sector undertakings, and the UPSC, CAG, CVC, CBI, CIC, etc.  In the matter of RTI applications, there should be no difference in procedure between the Centre and the states.
yours, etc., meera jhangiani, new delhi, 12 june