Opinion View from the left
Arguing that the spot-fixing scam has once again shown what money and greed can do to the gentlemans game,the CPI has called for scrapping the Indian Premier League.
Cleaning cricket
Arguing that the spot-fixing scam has once again shown what money and greed can do to the gentlemans game,the CPI has called for scrapping the Indian Premier League. It maintains it is the only way to overcome the crisis that has hit Indian cricket. An editorial in the CPIs New Age says such a move will restore the spirit in which the game should be played. Once money-spinning trade is halted the politicians will go out on their own. Otherwise,their holding office may be banned [sic. It further says,Most of the top positions in these organisations are hogged by politicians. Chief ministers who never bother to promote games like hockey and football use all their manipulating skill to capture the cricket-related organisations. While there have been cases of match-fixing and betting in the past,it has acquired menacing proportions after the initiation of the T20 format. The probe so far has confirmed that the IPL conceals several improprieties,involving a variety of people. The editorial concludes by saying,It can only be compared with the illegal chit funds and mutual funds that loot millions and millions by alluring them with the promise of doubling and tripling the investment in a short period.
Broken promises
The CPM has again indicated that it is not too enthused with the idea of a special session of Parliament to discuss and pass the food security bill. An editorial in Peoples Democracy argues that the UPA government is trying to derive political capital by encouraging the media to make an issue around the convening of a special session of Parliament. It recalls that the first presidential address to the joint session of Parliament after the UPA 2 assumed office in 2009 had outlined the governments plan to bring in the food bill in 100 days. The editorial claims that the government has itself to blame for not fulfilling its promise. The editorial also contested the wisdom of the bill in covering 67 per cent of the population. This is simply inadequate to eliminate hunger and malnutrition from our country. Any meaningful food security is only possible when all families in the country at least 90 per cent are provided 35 kg of food grains at prices not exceeding Rs 2 per kg,it adds. It further says,In the final analysis,therefore,what is required is not a special session of Parliament; what is required is a special resolve by the government to provide genuine food security to the people.
Modis elevation
An editorial in the CPI(ML)s ML Update focuses on the upheaval in the BJP after its decision to appoint Narendra Modi the chairperson of its election campaign committee. The editorial notes that while Modi has emerged as the most aggressive face of right-wing politics in India,he is still untested outside of Gujarat. The editorial refers to L.K. Advanis resignation letter as an unmitigated exercise in hypocritical nostalgia. It specifically refers to his contention that the BJP has lost the direction and character the party,which was built by leaders who apparently only thought about the country and the people,once had. Well,Advani knows it very well that these leaders may have laid the foundation of the BJP and its predecessor Bhartiya Jan Sangh,but it was Advani and Modi who raised the party to its current level of electoral success Advani on the national level and Modi in Gujarat. And this success has come not by thinking about the country and the people,but by aggressively pursuing the divisive politics of communalism… it says. The editorial notes that the BJP may believe that Modi is the partys best bet to revive its fortunes,but in terms of electoral politics beyond Gujarat,he is still untested. We only know that despite his presence,the BJP could not avert defeat earlier in Himachal Pradesh and most recently the ignominious rout in Karnataka,it concludes.
Compiled by Manoj C.G.
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