India Today [April 02, 2018] | A Rainbow Coalition or a Mirage?

158 Pages·2018·19.79 MB·English

by  India Today

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Aroon Purie
GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR: Raj Chengappa T hegeneralelectionof2014
EDITORS: Kaveree Bamzai (Special Projects), Ajit Kumar Jha (Research) changed the political landscape
GROUP CREATIVE EDITOR: Nilanjan Das; GROUP PHOTO EDITOR: Bandeep Singh
MANAGING EDITORS: Kai Jabir Friese, Rajesh Jha of this country dramatically. For
EXECUTIVE EDITORS: Damayanti Datta, S. Sahaya Ranjit, the first time in 25 years, a single
Sandeep Unnithan
DEPUTY EDITORS: Prachi Bhuchar, Uday Mahurkar, Manisha Saroop party won a majority. The reason was the
MUMBAI: M.G. Arun HYDERABAD: Amarnath K. Menon CHANDIGARH: Asit Jolly birth of a political colossus in the form of
SENIOR EDITORS: Shweta Punj, Sasi Nair, Alokparna Das
JAIPUR: Rohit Parihar Narendra Modi. A charismatic leader and
SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Kaushik Deka, Ashish Mukherjee a revitalised party swept across most of In-
MUMBAI: Suhani Singh, Kiran Dinkar Tare; PATNA: Amitabh Srivastava
ASSOCIATE EDITORS: Shougat Dasgupta, Chinki Sinha dia destroying rivals, following it up with
KTHOILRKUAVTAAN: ARNoTHmAiPtUaR SAMe:n Jgeuepmtao;n B JHaOcPAoLb: ;R BaEhIJuINl GN: oArnoannhtah; K rishnan wins in 12 out of 23 state elections since. Our May 4, 2009 cover
ASSISTANT EDITOR: PUNE: Aditi S. Pai The demoralised opposition saw a glimmer
PHOTO DEPARTMENT: Vikram Sharma (Deputy Photo Editor),
of hope after the BJP’s lacklustre perfor-
Rajwant Singh Rawat (Principal Photographer),
Chandra Deep Kumar (Photographer); MUMBAI: Mandar Suresh mance in the prime minister’s home state tra Samithi as well as the ambitious Y.S.
Deodhar (Chief Photographer), Danesh Adil Jassawala (Photographer);
AHMEDABAD: Shailesh B Raval (Principal Photographer); of Gujarat. This was succeeded by the loss Jaganmohan Reddy of the YSR Congress.
KOLKATA: Subir Halder (Principal Photographer);
CHENNAI: N.G. Jaison (Senior Photographer) of two byelections in Rajasthan followed INDIA TODAY’s cover story this week,
PHOTO RESEARCHERS: Prabhakar Tiwari (Chief Photo Researcher), by the more recent loss of four major Lok anchored by Senior Associate Editor
Saloni Vaid (Principal Photo Researcher),
Shubhrojit Brahma (Photo Researcher) Sabha byelections in Uttar Pradesh and Kaushik Deka, examines the arithmetic
CHIEF OF GRAPHICS: Tanmoy Chakraborty Bihar. In all these states, the NDA was the of 2019, which shows the BJP is headed
ART DEPARTMENT: Sanjay Piplani (Senior Art Director);
Jyoti K. Singh (Art Director), Vikas Verma (Associate Art Director); ruling regime. The Uttar Pradesh byelec- for solitary battles in 304 seats in 10 states
Bhoomesh Dutt Sharma (Senior Designer)
tions witnessed the unthinkable, with the against multiple opposition parties. Five
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PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT: Harish Agarwal (Chief of Production), two most bitter rivals combining to beat years ago, it won 140 of these 304 seats
Naveen Gupta (Chief Coordinator),
Vijay Kumar Sharma (Senior Coordinator) a common enemy only to prove that there when opposition parties were scatter ed—71
PUBLISHING DIRECTOR: Manoj Sharma are no permanent enemies in politics, only in Uttar Pradesh alone. An analysis of the
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER: Anil Fernandes (Impact) a common thirst for power. 2014 results suggests that had the Sama-
IMPACT TEAM
The anti-BJP movement got another jwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party
Senior General Manager: Jitender Lad (West)
General Manager: Mayur Rastogi (North), boost when the Telugu Desam, a BJP ally, fought together, they could have brought
Upendra Singh (Bangalore),
Kaushiky Gangulie (East) started quarrelling with it and withdrew the BJP tally down to less than 30.
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Today Conclave, she announced she would defensive. The critical issue will be the per-
do everything possible to prevent the BJP formance of the Congress, especially in the
Volume XLIII Number 14; For the week from returning to power in 2019. That 100 seats in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya
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APRIL 2, 2018 (cid:3)INDIA TODAY (cid:3)1
INSIDE
UPFRONT LEISURE
THE MOSUL LIE, BACK TO AN URBAN
UNEARTHED PG 3 JUNGLE PG 58
POV: WHAT STEPHEN Q&A: RANI MUKERJI
HAWKING DIDN’T SAY PG 68
PG 13
20
COVER STORY
UNITED,
THEY STAND
Recent election
results fuel the
self-belief in the
opposition parties
that together they
can take on the
BJP in 2019
TARIFF WARS POLITICS
36
48
TRADING
BLOWS
US imposition of tarifs on imported REWRITING
steel and aluminium is aimed at THE SCRIPT
China, but could hurt India too
Will Kamal
Haasan’s
COWS
‘people-first’
30 DEFENCE
vision of
TILL THE COWS 44 politics attract
the Tamil Nadu
COME HOME STUCK AT THE
voter?
START LINE...
State governments across the
countryareallocatinglarge
...eventhoughthearmylaunched
sumsoncowwelfare,butcattle
itsambitiousfutureinfantry
continuetobeabandoned combatvehicleadecadeback Cover by NILANJAN DAS
Readers are recommended to make appropriate enquiries before sending money, incurring expenses or entering
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2 (cid:3)INDIA TODAY APRIL 2, 2018
N T
THERAHUL NEWLINE
DOCTRINE ONCHINA
PG4 PG6
INDIAN KARTHIK’S
AIRLINESSOAR BIGBASH
PG7 PG8
THEMOURNING
RelativesofHarsimranSingh,
PRABHJOTGILL whowaskilledinMosul,in
Babowal village,Amritsar
MOSUL
R
BySandeepUnnithan
henitcomestoIndiansin istgroupISISearnedSwarajandthe lividwhentheygottoknowoftheir
distressoverseas,external governmentafairshareofcriticism. deathsontelevision.“Forthepastfour
affairsministerSushma Theannouncementbroughtclosureto years,theMEAwastellingmethey
Swarajhasrarelybeencaughtonthe anearlyfour-yearsagaforthefamilies werealive.Don’tknowwhattobelieve
wrongfoot.Fromvisasforstranded ofthe39missingpersons—22arefrom anymore,”GurpinderKaur,sisterof
Indianstoevacuatingseafarers variousdistrictsofPunjab,including ManjinderSingh,oneofthedeceased
fromtroublespots,Swarajhasnever Amritsar,Gurdaspur,Hoshiarpur, workers,saidsoonaftertheannounce-
beenmorethanatweetawayasshe KapurthalaandJalandhar.Therest ment.“Iamwaitingtospeakwithher
galvanisesanotoriouslyapathetic belongtoWestBengal,Biharand (Swaraj).Noinformationwasgiven
bureaucracytocometotheaidof HimachalPradesh. tous,weheardthestatementshemade
Indians.ButherMarch20announce- Thefamilymembers,whohad inParliament.”
mentinParliamentthatthe39Indian beenlivingonhopeandassurances Thearmedforcesinsistthenextof
constructionworkersmissinginIraq fromtheMinistryofExternalAffairs kinofdeceasedsoldiersareinformed
hadbeenkilledincoldbloodbyterror- (MEA)thattheirkinwerealive,were beforetheirnamesareflashedin
APRIL2,2018 INDIATODAY 3
UPFRONT
the media. This protocol was not followed in the case of the
murdered Indians. The government followed the correct
procedure in waiting for conclusive proof that the 39 had been
murdered, reportedly a day before Swaraj’s announcement.
Swaraj cannot be faulted for informing Parliament about
the deaths. It would have amounted to contempt of Parlia-
ment if she had announced such a significant news at a press
conference while the House was in session. Where the govern-
ment faltered, senior bureaucrats say, was in its failure to
reach out to the families despite being in constant touch with
them for nearly four years. “The foreign minister was right in
first informing Parliament, it’s just that they should have also
simultaneously informed the families,” says a former diplomat S
E
who did not want to be named. Reaching out to the families AG
M
across states would have, at best, been a minor coordina- Y I
tion matter between the home ministry and the MEA and TT
E
despatching officials to their homes. It would have taken just A/ G
a fraction of the effort Swaraj’s ministry has expended over HT
E
nearly four years in trying to locate the deceased workers. M
U
To be fair, the MEA under Swaraj worked hard to locate ON
S
the missing workers. The
bloody saga, which began with
Where the the abduction of 40 construc- CONGRESS
government tion workers when ISIS overran
THE RAHUL
faltered is in its Iraq’s third largest city Mosul
in June 2014, just days after the
failure to inform
Narendra Modi government
the families of DOCTRINE
was sworn in, was effectively
the deceased
Swaraj’s first overseas chal-
despite being in
lenge. Their disappearance was
constant touch raised at various international
with them forums by Prime Minister
I
Modi. Swaraj herself had tire- f Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s con-
lessly pursued their cause and cluding speech on March 18 at the 84th ple-
her junior minister, General nary is any indication, the party will soon see
V.K. Singh (retired), flew to Mosul to search for the missing a major organisational restructuring, with the
after the city had been liberated by Iraqi forces last July. focus on grooming young leaders. The Gandhi
The government disregarded the claims by Harjit Masih, scion, who has been authorised by a party reso-
the 40th worker who escaped from ISIS captivity, that all his lution to constitute the new Congress Working
co-workers had been killed. The MEA chose to believe the Committee, was categorical about the infusion
assurances given by two heads of state that the workers were of young blood, though the old guard will not be
alive, until General V.K. Singh was led to mounds in a village ignored. Party sources say the new CWC will be
of Badush, in Nineveh province outside Mosul, last July. The in place by April 15.
bodies were excavated from the mass grave. “The organisation has to change,” Rahul
It turns out the workers had been murdered execution said. “There is a big wall between our workers
style—single bullets to the head—soon after their abduction as and leaders. My first job is to demolish this wall.”
far back as in June 2014. The remains were matched against It was a line that received thunderous applause
the DNA samples extracted from their relatives in India by from the nearly 15,000 Congress workers ass-
the Martyrs Foundation, a government-run organisation in embled for the plenary. In a departure from tradi-
Baghdad. The foundation’s grim fingerprint match was what tion, top Congress leaders were seated in front
prompted Swaraj’s statement in Parliament. The remains of of the stage and not on a mattress on the dais. “I
the Indians are now set to be repatriated from Iraq back to have emptied this stage for you,” Rahul said. “I
India over the next few days. Another prolonged wait for the will drag talented youngsters on to this stage.”
bereaved families. ■ To emphasise the new egalitarianism, such
faces as Congress grassroots worker Kranti
14 (cid:3)INDIA TODAY APRIL 2, 2018
A NEW WAVE
Rahul Gandhi with party workers at
the Congress’s 84th plenary session
hul was strident in his attacks on the
BJP, comparing them to the Kauravas,
and assuring the party ranks that the
honest Congress-Pandavas would
emerge victorious. He also launched
into a parable about trips to two Shiva
temples and his encounters with the
priests, one honest, open to find-
ing God in everything, and the other
venal. “We are like the first priest,”
Rahul said, “soldiers of truth.” A Con-
gress general secretary, who asked to
remain anonymous, said Rahul “wants
to kill the perception that the Con-
gress is a party for Muslims. We want
to neutralise the BJP’s big weapon by
showing our inclusive Hinduism as
Banzara from Chhattisgarh, addre- opposed to their divisive one.”
ssed the plenary alongside such titans Presenting the Congress as the
as former prime minister Manmohan alternative to the BJP’s vision of India
Singh and P. Chidambaram. Workers, was a central theme of the plenary. Ra-
Rahul ackn owledged, were right to hul acknowledged that just slamming
be frustrated as they “give their blood Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
and sweat for 10-15 years” but when it his government was not enough—the
comes to elections they are told they Congress would have to find solutions
don’t have the money and some “para- to such major crises as unemployment,
chute leader gets the ticket instead”. farmer distress and education. During
BJP leaders, though, are none too one panel discussion, a former Union
impressed with the new rhetoric. Once minister explained the five principles
of the Congress, Himanta Biswa Sarma that separate the two parties: the Con-
points to the dynastic gress believes econom-
theme connecting ic liberalisation cannot
“The organisation
the young Congress coexist with social
has to change,”
faces on show. “The and political polarisa-
Rahul said. “There is
sons of Murli Deora, tion; the public sector
a big wall between
Rajesh Pilot, Jitendra must be strengthened
our workers and
Prasad, C.P.N. Singh, to ensure effective
leaders. My irst job
Madhavrao Scindia, delivery of services,
is to demolish it”
Bhupinder Hooda and not weakened; the
Tarun Gogoi,” he rural economy must
laughed, “are planning be given high priority;
how to keep the stage social and economic
empty and mislead the nation’s youth.” institutions must be bolstered; and the
Sarma, who was instrumental in the model of growth must not only be rapid
BJP wiping out the Congress in recent but inclusive and sustainable. The chal-
state elections in the Northeast, left the lenge for Rahul and the Congress will
party in 2015 after Rahul reportedly be to communicate that difference, to
nixed his chances of becoming chief show people why the party still remains
minister of Assam. a compelling alternative. ■
Apart from internal business, Ra- —Kaushik Deka
UPFRONT
DIPLOMACY
INDIA’S
NEW LINE
ON CHINA
I
n more evidence of the government
toeing a softer line on Beijing, the
government recently cancelled a
China-themed seminar organised
by a defence ministry think-tank in
New Delhi. No explanation was given
and scholars were told that “admin-
istrative reasons” were behind the
cancellation just four days before the
event. Institute for Defence Studies
SMOOTHED OVER?
and Analyses (IDSA) officials said the
File photo of PM Modi
government had expressed apprehen-
meeting Chinese CEOs
sions about the ‘India and China in
Asia: Making of a New Equilibrium’
theme of its flagship seminar, the A top defence official says the prime movers, was one factor that
‘Asian Security Dialogue’, which has ‘period’ in question is the run-up to hastened a resolution of the Doklam
been held without a break since 1999. the Shanghai Cooperation Organisa- issue. This might not work in the
Last year, Indian and Chinese tion (SCO) summit slated for June in Russia- and China-dominated SCO
tro ops faced off for 72 days on the Qingdao in China, which PM Naren- where India became a full-time
Doklam plateau in Bhutan when dra Modi is set to att end along with member only last year. South Block
the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and saw the Chinese Communist Party’s
began extending a road towards the Sitharaman. The visit comes even 19th Congress in October 2017 as an-
Jampheri ridge in uncomfortable as the 2003 ceasefire with Pakistan other powerful motivator for China’s
proximity to India’s sensitive Siliguri along the LoC lies in tatters. New climbdown in Doklam. Beijing was
corridor. Doklam is on the back-burn- Delhi is keen to ensure that its second eager to avoid any embarrassment for
er now and a major thaw is under way disputed boundary, the 4,000-km President Xi Jingping who was seek-
in ties with China. Defence minister Line of Actual Control (LAC) with ing a second term. Xi’s second term
Nirmala Sitharaman is likely to visit China, remains quiet. The defence is now promising to be an indefinite
Beijing in April and the two militaries ministry ant icipates another major one—the National People’s Congress
are set to res ume the annual ‘hand- incident on the LAC, perhaps even has amended the cons titution to
in-hand’ exercises which were called one at Doklam where abolish a two-term limit.
off last year. Last month, the cabinet the PLA is said to be On March 20, PM Modi
secretary issued a circular instructing constructing a new A top defence called President Xi to
all government functionaries to stay road outflanking the official says congratulate him on his
away from events commemorating the older one towards the the ‘period’ in second term, saying “it
60th anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s Jampheri ridge. question is the demonstrates that Xi
arrival in India. The circular followed The implicit thr- enjoys the support of the
run-up to the
a note from the foreign secretary eat of a boycott of the whole Chinese nation”.
SCO summit,
which reportedly said that ‘the pro- BRICS summit last The options for a hard line
which PM Modi
posed period is a very sensitive time in September, where look limited at present. (cid:132)
is set to atte nd
relations between India and China’. China is one of the —Sandeep Unnithan
16 (cid:3)INDIA TODAY APRIL 2, 2018
22.3 24.1
INDEX
INDIAN %
MILLION Growth in February
AIRLINES SOAR
passengers flew 2018 alone; 10.7
domestically in million passengers
Domestic air travel registered January and February compared with 8.7
2018, says the million in 2018; 86.8%
impressive growth in February this
Directorate General of flew with private
year compared to the same period
Civil Aviation, up from carriers and 13.2%
last year. These numbers come
18.23 million in the Air India (domestic),
just as the fleets of two popular
same period last year says the DGCA
domestic carriers have been partially
grounded because of repeated
39.9 11
engine failures. While the number
of planes and the routes they serve %
are relatively small, some industry of domestic PLANES
experts are suggesting there may passengers in belonging to IndiGo (8) and
be a small rise in air fares over the 317 February flew GoAir (3) grounded by the
next couple of months as a result IndiGo, followed DGCA on March 12 due to
of the grounding. In general, fares by 16.8% on Jet engine trouble; flights have
have been lower as competition for MILLION Airways been cancelled on 41 routes
The passenger
domestic passengers has increased
capacity of 78 642
with several airlines offering
India’s airport
promotional pricing and one-off %
network, says
deals. India is among the world’s the Centre Spice Jet’s industry- COMPLAINTS
fastest growing travel markets, with for Aviation; leading on-time recorded by the DGCA
the Sydney-based Centre for Aviation 265 million performance in in February. Average:
estimating that India will overtake passengers in February, says the 0.6 complaints per
Britain as the world’s third largest 2016, over 300 DGCA, calculated 10,000 passengers.
travel market by 2025. Questions million expected from airports in Delhi, Highest: 46.7—Air
are now being asked about Indian this year; just 44 Mumbai, Bengaluru and Deccan; lowest:
million in 2008, Hyderabad; Air India 0.1—Vistara; Air India
airports’ capacity to cope with the
says the DGCA (domestic) 68.8% (dom.) 1.6
greater load.
PULLQUOTE
“Arvindji, take my advice,
make a list. It’ll be easier to
apologise to people, one after
the other. Or have an apology
affidavit prepared:
‘To whosoever it may
concern...’”
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had some
gentle fun at the expense of his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal,
currently in the process of apologising his way out of a couple dozen
defamation lawsuits. It’s uncertain, though, if an apology is on its way
to Chouhan’s BJP colleague, finance minister Arun Jaitley. What seems
more certain is that AAP and Kejriwal have fizzled out—firebrands to
damp squibs in less than a single term in office MA
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UPFRONT
CHATTER
The week in social media
INDEX
@ShougatDasgupta
A Place in the
Big Bang League
Toxic
Twitter
India won a tri-nation T20 series in Sri Lanka in the
It is 12 years since
most exciting way possible with a last-ball six from
the first tweet. To
Dinesh Karthik against Bangladesh in the final. At
‘celebrate’ the an-
niversary, Amnesty 32, Karthik is now being talked about as potentially
International released India’s new finisher in the game’s quickest format.
a report on March And though everyone around Karthik lost their heads,
21 that described the man himself stayed cool. Taking to Instagram the
just how unhealthy an environment Twitter remains for
day after his heroics, Karthik wrote: “Probably one
women. They, alongside minorities, suffer disproportionate
of the best nights of my life. Nothing comes close to
abuse and have little recourse even when the behaviour
crossing the finish line for your country.” Probably?
violates Twitter’s own guidelines. Death and rape threats
are common currency. Women even stayed off Twitter en
masse in October to protest sustained harassment and the 29 4
company’s inability or unwillingness to do anything about it.
Twitter responded to Amnesty’s report by claiming it could RUNS SCORED BY KARTHIK STRAIGHT 6S BY CARLOS
not “delete hatred and prejudice from society”. Perhaps OFF JUST 8 BALLS TO WIN BRATHWAITE FOR WEST INDIES
not, but why allow it to thrive? (cid:132) THE FINAL. INDIA NEEDED AGAINST ENGLAND IN THE
34 FROM 12 BALLS WORLD T20 FINAL IN KOLKATA
IN 2016. WINDIES NEEDED A
RECORD 19 OFF THE LAST
5
OVERTOWIN
Delete Facebook? RUNS REQUIRED OFF 12
THE LAST BALL, SO
A WhatsApp KARTHIK NEEDED TO HIT
BALLS FOR FASTEST T20
co-founder A 6—AND HE OBLIGED
INTERNATIONAL 50, BY INDIA’S
who left the YUVRAJ SINGH IN 2007; CHRIS
company last GAYLE HIT A 12-BALL 50 IN AN
17
year joined the AUSTRALIAN T20 LEAGUE IN 2016
call to #Delete-
RUNS REQUIRED OFF
Facebook 35
THE LAST OVER IN
that’s gaining
INDIA’S ONLY OTHER
momentum on Twitter. Facebook spent billions of dollars INTERNATIONAL BALLS FOR FASTEST
acquiring Whats App in 2014. Of course, WhatsApp and Twitter LAST-BALL T20 WIN, INTERNATIONAL T20
play pretty much as vitiating a social role as Facebook, all the AGAINST AUSTRALIA CENTURY, BY ROHIT SHARMA
FORINDIAANDD IDMI LER
apparent conveniences and benefits notwithstanding. The IN SYDNEY IN 2016.
Cambridge Analytica scandal, in which the Facebook data NEEDING 2 OFF THE
of 50 million users was ‘harvested’ and exploited for political LAST BALL, SURESH
RAINA HIT A 4
gain in the 2016 US election, has reminded us just how casual
we are about revealing ourselves online. Our individual likes
are perhaps insignificant but in large enough tranches such 20
information is gold dust to firms, enabling them to target their
messages with ever increasing specificity, honing in on desires INTERNATIONAL T20
and fears of which we may not even be fully aware. Alexander MATCHES HAVE GON
DOWN TO THE LAST
Nix, Cambridge Analytica’s reptilian CEO, is correct when he
BALL. SRI LANKA
says elections are not about facts but emotions. Politicians
HAS BEEN MOST
know this instinctively and thanks to the lax data policies of
SUCCESSFUL, WITH
the likes of Facebook and inadequate privacy legislation, they 4 LAST-BALL WINS.
have the necessary tools to build their self-serving narratives, INDIA HAVE WON 2
to prey on our insecurities and prejudices. If only we had some AND LOST 3
way to counter the falsehoods and rumour-mongering, to
report accurately and widely, to aspire to independence rather
than shilling for politicians and their agendas. Old media... what
a radical idea. By abdicating its responsibility to provide a
reliable source of information and discussion, the mainstream
media has helped create this digital dystopia. (cid:132)