Hope blooms

Sounding as joyful as that old jingle 8216;Happy days are here againiquest;8217; the latest issue of Organiser exults over the BJP8217;s results in the UP civic polls and victories in the Bihar and Madhya Pradesh byelections.

Sounding as joyful as that old jingle 8216;Happy days are here againiquest;8217; the latest issue of Organiser exults over the BJP8217;s results in the UP civic polls and victories in the Bihar and Madhya Pradesh byelections. In a front-page article entitled 8216;Lotus Blooms Again 8212; BJP gets a big boost8217;, editor R. Balashankar is convinced that the saffron party 8220;is on a comeback trail8221; in UP after winning eight of the 12 mayoral seats and bagging a good number of seats in the lower civic bodies.

The victory of Shahnawaz Hussain from 8220;a traditional Hindu constituency8221; in Bihar also gets a special mention. As for the drubbing received by the BJP in Jharkhand at the hands of Babulal Marandi, the editor writes: 8220;The voters8217; anger against the UPA is so clear that the division of the BJP votes by the rebels in Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh could not help Congress perform better.8221;

The article as well as the week8217;s editorial single out BJP chief Rajnath Singh for some signal praise. Rajnath 8220;has proved lucky, a winner and vote-catcher for the party. His quiet, confident and measured response to issues provided much-needed credibility to the party8217;s ideological plank. Be it on Kashmir, Pakistan, reservation or Sachar Committee his responses may not have been a great hit with the Pak-obsessed pseudo-secular press, but it echoed the widely-felt anguish of the cadre,8221; says the editorial.

Red threat over India

The alleged threat posed by Chinese firms to India8217;s security remains a recurring theme in the weekly in recent weeks. A report refers to the National Security Council8217;s warning against issuing licenses to the Great

Wall Airlines of China to operate cargo facilities at and between Chennai and Mumbai airports. It also notes that visas were issued to 1800 Chinese workers in the Reliance oil project after the CPIM, which is 8220;behaving like the retail agents of the Chinese government,8221; took up the matter with the 8220;politically overactive foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menon.8221;

Expressing concern at China8217;s 8220;renewed vigour in pursuing India8221;, the report adds 8220;what is of primary concern, especially in the context of the CPM involvement in Nepal and the new-found Maoist role there, is the open, vocal, and pan-Indian political support being extended by the left parties to China.8221;

Hindus to the rescue

Addressing a Hindu sammelan in Shimla as part of the ongoing birth centenary celebrations of M.S. Golwalkar, RSS chief K.S. Sudarshan warned of the impending clash between Islam and Christianity that would cause the 8220;death of crores of innocent people8221; in the world unless Hindus intervened. According to a report on the meeting, Sudarshan said, 8220;In such a situation only India can spread the message of peace and brotherhood. But without uniting Hindu society we cannot show the right path to the world.8221; Sudarshan further said that both Islam and Christianity wanted to expand their territory by any means and both were endangering India and the world 8212; the Church through the 8220;conspiracy of converting people8221; and Islam through terrorism. 8220;The Hindu society hasn8217;t only to protect itself but also has to spread the message of peace and brotherhood,8221; he said Adding, 8220;Bharat is our matribhoomi, pitrabhoomi and karmabhoomi, its protection is our duty.8221;

Southern ally

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This issue carries an interesting interview with Karnataka CM H.D. Kumaraswamy. In reply to a pointed question, Kumaraswamy affirms that the JDS-BJP coalition government will complete its full and 8220;there will not be any problem in power transfer to the BJP after 10 months from my side.8221; But asked about the next assembly polls and the prospects of joining the NDA at the national level, the chief minister is equivocal. 8220;Any electoral alliance will have to be decided by the senior leaders of our party and the BJP. Even the issue of joining the NDA has to be taken by our leaders and the party president Deve Gowda. He has all along been fighting for secular forces. He has to take a final decision.8221;

8212;Compiled by Manini Chatterjee