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com

SUNDAY, 12 M ARCH 20 17
12 pages in 1section DEM OCRACY AT WORK P10 WORLD P9
M UM BAI
~8 . 0 0
VOLUME X NUMBER 52
WE NEED TO HAVE DETERRENCE: CHIEF PREET BHARARAAMONG
ELECTION COMMISSIONER ON BRIBERY PROSECUTORSASKED TO RESIGN

BJP GETSHISTORICMAJORITYIN UP,

SAFFRON HOLI
SWEEPSUTTARAKHAND
CONGRESSROMPSHOMEIN PUNJAB
WITH COMFORTABLEMAJORITY
GRAND OLD PARTYLIKELYTOFORM
GOVERNMENTIN GOA, MANIPUR

ADITI PHADNIS
New Delhi, 11March

T
he Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vanquished all
Opposition by clearly winning two and coming
within striking distance in two more of the five state
Assembly elections, the results of which were
declared on Saturday.
The victory will result in consolidation
of power for Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and party president Amit Shah. A HOW THEY
reshuffle in the central government and in STAND
the party hierarchy is likely. Praising Modi,
Shah said, “The only factor for the win is UTTAR PRADESH
the performance of the Modi government. Party Seats w on
... Even his political rivals will have to BJP 312
admit that he has emerged as the tallest
leader in the country since Independence.” SP+ INC 54
Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not BSP 19
make a public appearance, but tweeted: Others 18
“Am overjoyed that BJP has received
TOTAL 403
unprecedented support from all sections
of society. Huge support from the youth is PUNJAB
gladdening.”
Party Seats w on
The results also dealt a body blow to the
Opposition. “Uttar Pradesh ke ladke”
INC 77
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav AAP 20
and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi SAD 15
were grappling with defeat, while former BJP 3
chief minister Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj
Party (BSP) will be staring down the barrel. Others 2
The brightest spot for the Opposition TOTAL 117
was Punjab, where the Congress defeated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers celebrate the victory of their party in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, in New Delhi on Saturday. Though BJP failed to win Punjab or get a majority in Goa
both AAP and BJP-Shiromani Akali UTTARAKHAND and Manipur, its return to power in pivotal UP is a major boost to the policies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi PHOTO: REUTERS
Dal (SAD). It also emerged as the Party Seats w on
single-largest party in Manipur and Goa. BJP 57
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s
INC 11

Fresh paint on Modi’s pro-poor image

plans to scale up his Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) nationally also suffered a setback, Independent 2
with lesser-than-expected performances TOTAL 70
in both Goa and Punjab.
Team Modi-Amit Shah’s greatest victory GOA
was, undoubtedly, in Uttar Pradesh. With Party Seats w on ARCHIS M OHAN & ADITI PHADNIS in the last two-and-a-half years,” Shah said. complete. Not that the BJP is likely to let go of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and
312 seats in the party’s kitty, it was clear that INC 17 New Delhi, 11March He added the central government had its attack on what it calls the politics of Rajasthan in 2018.
all caste and community calculations fell launched 93 pro-poor projects, inducing the minority appeasement, but it is likely to Saturday’s results will buttress the BJP’s
BJP 13

B
by the wayside. The BJP engulfed almost all haratiya Janata Party (BJP) President other backward classes and the Dalits to “reform” minority thinking. confidence to repeat its 2014 performance in
support for the Congress and devastated AAP 0 Amit Shah on Saturday attributed his repose faith in Modi. Shah said the BJP government would the 2019 Lok Sabha elections with Modi
the ruling SP. This was the first time in Others 10 party’s spectacular performance, To questions on how soon shut slaughter houses in Uttar getting another chance of becoming prime
37 years that any party had crossed the particularly in Uttar Pradesh, home to the Modi government would Pradesh, largely owned by the minister. Shah will galvanise the
TOTAL 40
300-seat mark in the state. India’s largest number of the poor, to Prime push for the construction of a Saturday’s results Muslim community. Issues organisation as only he can, with a degree of
With only seven seats, Congress is now at Minister Narendra Modi’s welfare agenda. Ram temple at Ayodhya, the w ill buttress the like triple talaq and a common ruthlessness and single-mindedness, so that
a lifetime low in the UP Assembly. Yadav,
M ANIPUR He said the landslide victory was a BJP chief merely said it was civil code are also likely to be it puts down roots in areas where it did not
Party Seats w on BJP’s confidence
who had to take on the old guard of his party vindication of demonetisation, with the part of the party’s election to repeat its 2014 debated within the party. exist. Manipur is the latest example of the
to form the pre-poll alliance with Congress, INC 28 poor supporting the government. The manifesto. While religious The Uttar Pradesh victory BJP becoming a pan-India party, displacing
performance in
failed to cash in on his popularity among BJP 21 victory will push the government to punish differentiation was flagged 2019 w ith Modi will ensure better numbers in the Congress.
young voters or convince them about his TMC 1 the corrupt. A visible and public pursuit of openly and unapologetically getting another the Rajya Sabha for the BJP A near majority in the Rajya Sabha and a
contribution to infrastructure in the state. tax evaders is almost certainly on the during the campaign, there chance of and help it ensure the victory President of his choice will make Modi the
Others 10
Anti-incumbency and neglect of cards. Shah also said he had no problem was no overt campaign becoming the PM of its nominee for President. most influential prime minister since Indira
constituencies by members of the TOTAL 60 with people calling the results a reference to the rebuilding of Shah said the BJP now Gandhi. But many in his party and the
Legislative Assembly cost the party dear. referendum on demonetisation. the Ram temple. planned to roll out pro-poor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh continue to
A visibly dejected Yadav told reporters, “I hope the next The party believes it has managed to shed Shah pointed out the schemes throughout the be concerned at the untrammeled
government will work better than the SP government.” The BSP its image of running a government of the voters in Uttar Pradesh had stepped out of country, betting the agenda would win centralisation in decision making. In 2014, it
won 19 seats, securing only about 22 per cent vote share — down moneybags. “The poor of the country are the Hindu-Muslim matrix and people elections between now and 2019. These was Modi’s 56 inch chest that his supporters
from 25 per cent in 2012. This prompted Mayawati to charge that looking at the Modi government with hope wanted progress. The reinvention of the BJP, include elections later this year in Gujarat flagged as his USP. This election has added a
electronic voting machines were rigged. Turn to Page 3 > and have applauded the work done for them particularly Modi as a messiah of the poor, is and Himachal Pradesh and in Karnataka, couple of inches to that.

VERDICT 20 17
For 2019, Opposition’s only hope: Nitish, Mamata
AM IT AGNIHOTRI & ARCHIS M OHAN At least the SP could hold on to a vote share
New Delhi, 11March of 22 per cent, but Congress’ vote shared
dropped from 13.26 per cent in 2012 to around 6

B
ihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his
counterpart from neighbouring West
Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, are now the
only two leaders in the country’s political land-
scape who could lead a united Opposition
against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019.
The results for the five state Assembly elec-
tions, declared on Saturday, gave a landslide
victory to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in
Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, while bring-
ing them within striking distance of forming
UTTAR PRADESH: ‘Modi’fied UP breaks governments in Goa and Manipur. Only in
Hindu-Muslim matrix Punjab, the Congress managed to snatch a
People of Uttar Pradesh rose above caste an d com m un ity affiliation s victory.
to deliver a m an date in favour of econ om ic developm en t sym bolised This situation is a throwback to the 1960s,
by Prim e Min ister Naren dra Modi, said Bharatiya Jan ata Party ‘70s and ‘80s, when parties across the political
Presiden t Am it Shah on Saturday 4> spectrum tried to ensure that the “index of
Opposition unity” remained strong to defeat
Power politics: UP and running 5 >
the Congress, led first by Indira Gandhi and lat-
PUNJAB: Captain makes the change with a er her son, Rajiv Gandhi.
landslide 6 > The overwhelming results were a jolt to most
of the Opposition leaders in the joust —
UTTARAKHAND: The rebellion that cost Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, incum-
Congress dear 7> bent Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister (CM) Akhilesh
Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati,
and, most of all, Delhi CM and Aam Aadmi Party
BUSINESS STANDARD WISHES ITS READERS chief Arvind Kejriwal.
Others humbled in these elections include
Uttarakhand CM Harish Rawat and his Goa
Th ere w i ll b e n o ed i t i on
of t h e n ew sp ap er on Mon d ay counterpart Laxmikant Parsekar. Rawat lost one
of the two seats he contested, while Parsekar
HAPPY (March 13) as t h e Business
Standard offi ces w i ll rem ai n lost on the lone seat he contested.
HOLI! closed on Su n d ay. Th e Manipur CM Okram Ibobi Singh found his
e- p ap er can b e accessed at party losing its majority status, but it still
www.business-standard.com emerged as the single-largest party in the state
Assembly.
In Manipur, activist Irom Chanu Sharmila,
per cent in 2017. But in 2012, they both had
fought the elections alone. Tougher questions
are now going to be asked of Rahul Gandhi.
In both the 2012 and the 2017 Assembly polls,
he led the party’s campaign. The UP shocker will
impact the 46-year-old’s plans to revive the
grand old party in his home state, and also puts
a question mark whether the SP-Congress
alliance would extend to the 2019 national elec-
tions.
However, the vote shares of Opposition par-
ties in UP and the example of Bihar make it evi-
dent that only the “index of opposition unity”
can defeat Modi-led BJP.
The UP results are also a setback for Priyanka
Vadra, who played a key role in sewing up the
SP-Congress alliance, monitored the polls and
provided strategic inputs through all the stages.
BIG LOSERS: It’s time for the big Opposition leaders to do some soul searching. In Samajwadi However, Priyanka, the Congress’ star cam-
Party, Akhilesh Yadav (second from left), who put his neck on the line to tie up with the Congress, paigner, limited her presence in the Gandhi
would face tough questions. While Rahul Gandhi (left) and Arvind Kejriwal (right) were secure family bastions of Amethi and Rae Bareli and
for now, neither could emerge as a suitable alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. With addressed just one rally along with Rahul in Rae
only 19 seats, it is now an existential struggle for BSP chief Mayawati (second from right) Bareli owing to friendly fights in four of the 10
seats in the area.
At his press conference on Saturday after-
who stopped her 16-year-long hunger strike last per cent vote share, she alleged manipulation of noon, BJP chief Amit Shah said his party won six
year and entered electoral politics, received a electronic voting machines. of the 10 seats in the Gandhi family pocket bor-
mere 90 votes in the Thoubal constituency in That her Bahujan Samaj Party has won a oughs of Amethi and Rae Bareli.
Manipur. “I am fed up of elections and won’t good vote share should give Mayawati hope that Kejriwal and his AAP were also jolted out of
fight again,” she said in frustration. Sharmila any unity of Opposition parties against Modi their comfort zone, with the party failing to
joins the long list of activists, including Medha can ill afford to ignore her. win even a single seat in Goa and failing to
Patkar, who have struggled to find their feet in While there was no immediate threat pose a big challenge to the Congress in Punjab.
electoral politics. to Yadav’s position in the party, he It dents Kejriwal and AAP’s plans to displace
Sharmila’s disappointment was matched by would face tough questions for his decision the Congress in states with bipolar politics,
that of Mayawati. Aghast at winning an abysmal to align with the Congress, and to give it over 100 where the Congress and the BJP are the two
19 of the 403-seats in the Uttar Pradesh seats to contest. The Congress could win only principal rivals.
Assembly, despite bagging a respectable 22.2 seven.
2 COMPANIES
>
MUMBAI | 12 MARCH 2017 1

Women who keep the

Philips testing home care biz Maharaja flying high
in India for global launch
Philips Home Care offers a range of home health care facilities, assistíng patients to recover, regain
lost health and improve their quality of life
GIREESH BABU ing up the home care services er countries. “I would look for medication management and care for patients indicated a 27
Chennai, 11 March in India. I think at least compliance could be added per cent reduction in the cost of
that would be a another year as services later. The packages care, 32 per cent reduction in
pilot which would Philips plans to deliver and a half,”

T
he Netherlands-based range from ~5,000 per month acute and long-term costs, and
health technology then be good home care to over Bhattacharya to ~200,000 a year. 45 per cent reduction in hospi-
major Philips may look enough to run 100,000 people in said. Madhavan Hariharan, chief talisation. Backed with these
at taking the home care busi- internationally,” India by 2020. Philips financial officer, Indian sub- findings, Philips plans to deliv-
ness, which it launched he said. Initially, the services Home Care continent, Philips India, added er home care to over 100,000
recently in India, interna- The company on offer are targeted offers a range the company was expanding people in India by 2020.
tional once the model is suc- started the busi- at chronic obstructive of home the service to the western part Commenting about
cessful in the country. ness in India pulmonary disease health care of the country. “We started the business, Bhattacharya
Abhijit Bhattacharya, almost six months patients facilities, in the NCR and in some of said while the global health
chief financial officer and ago and the initial assistíng the southern states and we are technology industry was
member of the board of man- build-up was patients to expanding to other parts,” he growing at four to six per cent,
agement of Royal Philips, according to expectations. recover, regain lost health said. India and China were growing The pilot and crew of the Delhi-San Francisco Air India flight PHOTO: AIR INDIA
said the business was expect- Once the business hits the and improve their quality of A study conducted by at higher rates and India was
ed to grow above the industry kind of growth Philips life. Initially, the services are Philips and Banner Health in among the top 10 countries in ARINDAM MAJUMDER and a half hours. Wind patterns became normal only after a few
growth rate in India. expects, it will look at for chronic obstructive pul- the US on using technology as a terms of business importance New Delhi, 11 March made the return flight take flights.” Family pressure and
“We have invested in start- expanding the service to oth- monary disease patients, but means for providing remote for Philips. more time. “When we touched archaic rules still make com-
Captain Trisha Mohan is down at Delhi, there was a mercial flying difficult for a
amused every time air traffic sense of achievement,” says woman. Once a pilot or cabin
Products and Ford to export Ecosport to North America control addresses her. The only
woman flying a Boeing 747 in
Bajpai, who has in her 20-year crew member’s pregnancy is
career with Air India flown confirmed, she is grounded
services, tech India, she is called Sir by
ground staff. “I find it amusing
Airbus and Boeing commercial throughout the maternity peri-
planes. “Despite having done od on medical grounds, accord-

top recruiting but it doesn't stay on the mind.

At that moment, it's only the
long-haul flights in the past, we ing to Air India rules. They can’t
were breaking stereotypes with fly immediately after delivery.

sectors flight operation that matters,”

says Mohan, who piloted Air
this flight, probably giving “The 135-day maternity leave
wings to the dreams of many is far less than required. A
India (AI) planes for 20 years. children.” woman is grounded through-
VINAY UMARJI Aviation remains male- The lead cabin crew mem- out her pregnancy and can’t fly
Ahmedabad, 11 March dominated more than 100 ber, Bandukwala Nishin, says: immediately after delivery. I
years after the Wright brothers “There were 250 had to take
Over the years, management made the first powered heavier- passengers and 18 months’ leave with-
education globally has seen than-air machine to achieve all of them were The Boeing 777- out pay. What about sin-
rising flexibility in place- sustained flight with a pilot ecstatic to know 200LR covered gle others who don’t
ments of graduates across aboard. Cut to 2017, women are they were part of 15,300 km in 15 have anyone to support
sectors. only three per cent in primary such a historic hours and her?” asks a woman
This has been visible from roles (such as pilots and chief event. As soon as 10 minutes pilot.
the fact that about 39 per cent engineers) in airlines across the the captain made Maternity also
of alumni across global B- world. On February 26, an all- this announce- impacts career progres-
schools now work in an women, 16-member crew of Air ment, everyone clapped.” sion. If a woman is called for a
industry they had never con- India assembled at the dispatch AI had its first woman pilot commander’s training course
sidered prior to starting busi- unit of Delhi airport. It was a in 1956 when Captain Durba and if she can’t attend it due to
ness school, says Graduate usual day, except that these Banerjee was inducted in the pregnancy, it’s a long wait
Management Admission women were embarking on a erstwhile Indian Airlines. In before her turn comes up again.
Council (GMAC), a nonprofit historic journey. Led by 1990, Captain Nivedita Bhasin Her hours of flying experience
organiSation of 220 leading Captain Kshamta Bajpai and became the youngest pilot in also suffer when she takes a
graduate business schools Captain Sunita Narula, the all- civil aviation history to com- year’s leave. “We fall behind our
from around the world. women team was going to fly mand a jet aircraft. “Of course it male and female counterparts
GMAC owns and administers from Delhi to San Francisco, a was difficult. When I joined, I in terms of flying hours,” the
the Graduate Management journey of 15,300 km, and back. was the third woman pilot the pilot says.
Admission Test (GMAT) “When we were walking airline had. I hope such mile- Women also say long, errat-
exam, used by more than towards the aircraft, I remem- stones attract more women to ic work hours and staying away
6,500 graduate programs ber a mother pointing at us and join aviation,” says Bhasin, from loved ones is stress-induc-
worldwide. telling her daughter to become referring to the all-women ing. “Staying away from my
like us,” says Narula, a pilot for flight. There is no legal gender family was really difficult,” says
T E NARASIMHAN development trends, India’s credentials as a world- The majority of the com- 30 years. discrimination but the greatest Bhasin. But, these women
Chennai, 11 March BalasundaramRadhakrishna class manufacturing hub, the pany’s exports from India The Boeing 777-200LR cov- hurdle is convincing a fellow pilots say they have no regret
n, executive director, manu- company said. comprise the Ecosport and ered 15,300 km in 15 hours and male colleague of one's poten- on profession. “We are seeing
US automobile major Ford facturing, Ford India, said Ford produces Ecosport the Figo. 10 minutes, crossing 13 time tial, say the pilots. Narula more and more women. The
has decided to export the India was going to be a major for more than 100 markets The company exported zones. It flew over the Pacific remembers her initial years in environment has also become
made-in-India Ecosport to hub for Ford. worldwide at six global loca- 151,638 vehicles in 2016, Ocean to reach San Francisco the 1980. “I was a young lady in more favourable,” says
North American markets. Commencement of exports to tions. Since 2013, Ford has up from 99,143 vehicles in and returned over the Atlantic my 20s and all the line pilots Harpreet Singh, chief of flight
Speaking on the sidelines the US marked a significant exported over 200,000 2015. In comparison in 2014, Ocean. The return flight, which were men in their 40s. They safety at AI and president of the
of the CII’s conference on milestone in Ford’s Make in Ecosports made at its factory the automobile company landed on March 3, covered were very apprehensive about Indian Women's Pilots
automotive research and India journey and boosted in Chennai. exported 76,981 vehicles nearly 14,000 km and took 15 my abilities. Everything Association.

Sunday Business Standard

MUMBAI EDITION
Helion Ventures exits LifeCell
with promoters buy back shares
Printed and Published by Sangita Kheora on behalf of Business Standard Private Limited and
printed at M/s. Dangat Media Private Limited, 22 Digha M.I.D.C., TTC Industrial Area, Vishnu
Nagar, Digha, Navi Mumbai, 400708 and published at 3rd & 4th Floor, Building H, Paragon
Condominium, Opp. Century Mills, P. B. Marg, Worli, Mumbai - 400 013
Editor : Shyamal Majumdar
GIREESH BABU cord stem cell was at around parents and siblings in access- pany reaches out to 150 cities
RNI NO. : MAHENG/2007/28487
Readers should write their feedback at feedback@bsmail.in Chennai, 11 March ~48,000, followed by around ing stem cells from the com- and the diagnostics services are
Fax : +91-22-24978456-68 ~4000 monthly payment. The munity pool, thus providing a currently offered in almost 50
For Subscription and Circulation enquiries please contact:
Ms. Mansi Singh Head-Customer Relations India-focused venture fund initial payment has been comprehensive family benefit of the top cities.
Business Standard Private Limited, Nehru House, 4, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg , New Delhi - 110 002 Helion Venture Parnters has slashed down to ~12,000 now, for treatments. An additional ~20 crore will
E-mail: subs_bsdel@bsmail.in “or sms, SUB BS to 7007” exited Chennai-based stem cell while the monthly payment At present, it has 2 lakh cus- be invested on this business, in
Overseas subscription: (Mumbai Edition Only)
One year subscription rate by air mail INR 39950 : USD 725 banking and research firm remains almost the same. tomers and is adding araound tie up with a German market
DISCLAIMER News reports and feature articles in Business Standard seek to present an unbiased LifeCell International Pvt Ltd, The company has now 50,000 customers every year. leader on pre-natal diagnostics
picture of developments in the markets, the corporate world and the government. Actual develop- as the promoters bought back announced a shift in its busi- With the shift in business mod- business, LifeCodexx, to bring
ments can turn out to be different owing to circumstances beyond Business Standard’s control and
knowledge. Business Standard does not take any responsibility for investment or business decisions the shares held by the invest- ness model, from a private el, the company expects around in a non-invasive test into the
taken by readers on the basis of reports and articles published in the newspaper. Readers are expect- ment firm. The stem cell bank- banking model to a 2.5 lakh new cus- pre-natal testing. The company
ed to form their own judgement.
Business Standard does not associate itself with or stand by the contents of any of the advertise- ing firm has shifted its opera- community model, Helion invested tomers to join in will be looking at expanding its
ments accepted in good faith and published by it. Any claim related to the advertisements should tional model to community which allows sharing about ~35 crore in next four to five presence through inorganic
be directed to the advertisers concerned.
Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all rights reserved by M/s Business Standard Pvt. Ltd. Any print- stem cell banking from private of preserved umbili- LifeCell to pick up years. It will make growth in the mother and baby
ing, publication, reproduction, transmission or redissemination of the contents, in any form or by stem cell banking, in order to cal cord stem cells 20 per cent stake the prices afford- business which involves the
any means, is prohibited without the prior written consent of M/s Business Standard Pvt. Ltd. Any
such prohibited and unauthorised act by any person/legal entity shall invite civil and criminal maximise business potential. amongst the com- in the company in able and the new diagnostics services. The
liabilities. Helion has invested ~35 munity of parents. 2013. The model will benefit investments will be from inter-
No Air Surcharge crore in LifeCell to pick up 20 This is beneficial for promoters have the family 10-12 nal accruals and it is not looking
per cent stake in the company the customers, con- bought back the times more than at fund raising at present.
in 2013. The promoters bought sidering that only 20 stake for ~72 crore what it was. The stem cell industry in
the stake back for ~72 crore. The per cent of the dis- Besides, the the country has around 12
Government of Jharkhand exit was formally completed in ease could be treated with own company has also forayed into licensed players, of which
Rural Development Special Division, Hazaribag the first week of this month, stem cell while the rest of the 80 pre-natal diagnostics business three - Jeevan, Reliance and
Request for Proposal (E-Procurement) Notice said Mayur Abhaya, chief exec- per cent require a donor’s stem by acquiring a company, Cryviva - have both public and
Reference No. – RDD/SD/HZB/24/2016-17
utive officer and managing cell for treatment. Fetomed, from Chennai last private stem cell banking serv-
S.N. Name of work: Construction of bridge over Simardah
river between village Bhandaro and director, LifeCell. The community model year, for ~15 crore. The compa- ices. The market size in India is
Hathgarha.at block Barhi in Hazaribag The investment from would provide larger access to ny has been into conducting currently around ~200 crore,
district. Helion has helped the company donor stem cells within the new born screening for the of which LifeCell is around
1. Estimated Cost: Rs. 1,79,70,800.00 (One crore seventy to bring down the prices, to beef community and higher proba- babies in the last three years ~125 crore, said Abhaya. He
nine lacs seventy thousand eight
hundred) only. up the volume and build up a bility for finding a matching and the Fetomed acquisition added that the company is
2. Completion period for construction: 12 Months larger inventory. The initial donor stem cell for treatments. enables them to do pre-natal expected to hit ~125 crore rev-
3. Tender Fee and EMD: Tender Fee - Rs. 10,000.00 payment for storing a umbilical Community banking also helps diagnostics services. The com- enue this fiscal year.
EMD - Rs. 3,59,500.00 (Three lacs fifty
nine thousand five hundred) only. Government of Jharkhand
4. Date of Publication of Tender on 20.03.2017 Office of The Executive Engineer,
website:
5. Pre-bid meeting Date: Date- 23.03.2017 Time : 03:00 PM Mechanical Division, Chandil
6. Date/Time of receipt of bids: From 24.03.2017 at 11.00 AM upto e-Procurement Notice
05.04.2017 at 05:00 PM Tender Reference No. WRD/SMP/MD/CHANDIL/09/2016-17 Date :-
7. Technical Bid opening Date: Date 07.04.2017 Time : 02.00 PM 09.03.2017
8. Name & Address of office inviting Executive Engineer, Rural Development
1. Name of the work Renovation of 05 Nos of spillway
tender: Special Division, Hazaribag
Gate with electrification of
9. Helpline number of e-Procurement cell: 1. Chief Engineer, Rural Development
SITARAMPUR DAM of Adityapur
Special Zone, Ranchi
2. Executive Engineer, Rural water supply scheme
Development Special Division, 2. Estimated Cost (Rs.) 11151659.70
Hazaribag. 3. Time of Completion 180 Days
10. Place of submission of Tender Fee 1. Chief Engineer, Rural Development
4. Last date/Time for online 15.3.2017 to 06.04.2017 Up to
& EMD bid (Hard Copy): Special Zone, Ranchi
2 Executive Engineer, Rural
submission of bids 5.00 P.M.
Development Special Division, 5. Date of Publication of Tender 15.03.2017 11.00 AM
Hazaribag on website
11. Contact number of e-Procurement 9801497700, 9430151952 6. Name & address of office Executive Engineer, Mechanical
officer/Office Inviting tender Division, Chandil.
12. Helpline number of e-Procurement cell: 0651-2401750
7. Contact no. of Procurement officer 9431289043
NOTE: Only e-Tenders will be accepted.
Further details can be seen on website http:/Jharkhand etenders.gov.in 8. Helpline number of 0657-2371765
The Tender Fee, , Bank Credit Facility and Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) e-Procurement cell
along with copy of uploaded documents must be submitted up to 06.04.2017 by Note:- Only e-Tenders will be accepted.
5.00 PM. If Tender Fee,, Bank Credit Facility and EMD are not received before Further details can be seen on website https://jharkhandtenders.gov.in
mention date and time then the tender of the related tenderer shall not be accepted.
Executive Engineer
Executive Engineer
Mechanical Division, Chandil
Rural Development Special Division,
PR No: 158579(Rural Development)/16-17 Hazaribag PR No: 158541(Water Resource)/16-17
www.jharkhandgov.in www.jharkhandgov.in
.
MUMBAI | 12 MARCH 2017 COMPANIES 3 <

Daimler financing arm > FROM PAGE 1

rides on Mercedes
Every second vehicle sold by Mercedes in India now financed by MBF
AJAY MODI
New Delhi, 11 March
Mercedes-Benz Financial, the vehicle
financing arm of German luxury carmak-
er Daimler, is expanding its business on
the growing popularity of its parent’s lux-
ury car business in India. Mercedes
emerged as the country’s biggest luxury
car player in 2015 and retained the position
in the 2016 calendar year.
Every second vehicle sold by Mercedes
in the country (on lease/finance) is now
financed by Mercedes-Benz Financial or
MBF. The carmaker said MBF saw a growth
of 25 per cent in its transactions during
2016. “MBF is growing favourably with our
rising presence. They started just five years
ago and have grown rapidly. They have int-
roduced new concepts in financing and
offer a high degree of flexibility to buyers.
It has helped us in regaining more custom-
ers. The company can make money on sale
of vehicles and also on financing them,”
said Roland Folger, managing director and
chief executive officer at Mercedes-Benz.
In 2015, Mercedes posted a 32 per cent
growth in volumes and sold a record 13,502
vehicles in India to become the largest play-
er overtaking German brand Audi.
The company’s volume declined mar-
ginally to 13,231 vehicles in 2016 due to the
diesel ban in the national capital region
and demonetisation, but it remained the
largest player. MBF does not finance vehi-
cles from the competition.
The financial services business of
Daimler is also growing on the back of its
SPEEDING UP
| MBF saw a growth of 25 per cent in its transactions during 2016. It does
not finance vehicles from the competition
| In 2015, Mercedes posted a 32 per cent growth in volumes and sold a
record 13,502 vehicles to as India’s biggest luxury car player
| Daimler’s financial services also growing on the back of its commercial
vehicle business in India under Bharat Benz brand
commercial vehicle business in the coun-
try under the Bharat Benz brand. Bharat
Benz does not share the volumes it sells but
Bharat Benz Financial finances every sec-
ond commercial vehicle (CV) sold by the
company.
Other than financing vehicles at com-
petitive rates to banks, Daimler also offers
insurance service for these vehicles, bring-
ing another income stream for its parent.
The company said every two out of three
luxury vehicles sold was protected with
Mercedes-Benz Insurance. In case of CVs,
two out of every five units sold were pro-
tected with an in-house insurance product.
Daimler Financial Services India (DFSI)
has played a key role in the growth of both
passenger and CV business of Daimler in
India and it aims to be the first-choice
provider of financial and mobility services
for customers and dealers, the company
said. It added that DFSI has executed more
than 30,000 loan contracts in a period of
just five years. Daimler Financial Services’
global portfolio volume is more than 125
billion euros as of November 2016.
Saffron Holi
In Punjab, AAP posted
gains (20 seats), but came
nowhere near its high expec-
tation. Instead, the SAD-BJP
his party, which won 21 seats,
would form the government
with allies, National People’s
Party (four seats) and Naga
cancel casino licences in Goa
and waive loans of farmers in
Punjab.
The result has implica-
defeat in elections, thus obvi-
ating a demand for a change
in leadership even before it
could be voiced and before
combine performed better People’s Front (four seats). tions for power equations in the extent of devastation for
than expected, winning 18 This, however, seemed like a all parties. BSP chief the party could be discerned.
seats. distant possibility. Mayawati remains immune Unhampered anymore by
Addressing the issue of Goa was the only state from threats to her leader- political considerations, the
drugs, state Congress chief where the BJP suffered ship, but it is clear that the ruling National Democratic
Amarinder Singh, who is appreciable reverses, with party would now be vulnera- Alliance (NDA) government
most likely to become the even Chief Minister ble to attacks by poachers. at the Centre is expected to
chief minister, said, Laxmikant Parsekar losing However, Akhilesh Yadav go full steam ahead now, both
“Anybody found involved in his seat. The Aam Aadmi will now have to face the in Parliament and outside.
the drug scourge will be dealt Party was a non-starter, here onslaught of blame from the When Parliament opens
as per law... I have said with- too, failing to win any seat. section of the SP that he on Tuesday, an aggressive
in four weeks we will tackle Here, too, the Congress was alienated in the run-up to the prime minister is expected to
this drugs problem.” the largest party here, win- election. Charges that read the riot act to the
The picture in ning 17 of the 40 seats in the Congress was a liability are Opposition benches.
Uttarakhand was the exact Assembly. already being voiced by SP The result will see the BJP
opposite, with the BJP jug- Savouring its victory, the leaders. put forward its candidate for
gernaut ousting the BJP said its parliamentary Arvind Kejriwal is unlike- the President of India with
Congress. With a promise of board, its highest decision- ly to face any questioning renewed confidence: All fears
forming a stable government making body, will meet on from his party. The Punjab that a slim majority would
in the state, BJP romped Sunday and decide the chief electoral performance is like- force the party to compro-
home with a highest-ever ministers of UP and ly to influence the Municipal mise will now be pushed
tally (57). Uttarakhand. Corporation of Delhi elec- aside.
In Manipur too, where BJP Prime Minister Modi tions next month. In the Rajya Sabha, after
had no presence till 2012, the promised the first decision Rahul Gandhi was also the retirement of nearly 80
party made significant the BJP government in UP enveloped in a protective members between now and
inroads. The Congress would take would be to retire mantle by his party. Congress 2018, the NDA will see num-
emerged as the single-largest loans of small and marginal leader Digvijay Singh said for bers slowly shifting in its
party, winning 28 seats. But farmers. Similarly, the long, the Congress has favour. This election will be a
the BJP’s state in-charge Ram Congress has promised that believed no one leader is major shot in the arm for the
Madhav was confident that its first decision would be to responsible for victory or government.
raYT/ I ya [spat inagama ilaimaTo D
RASHTRIYA ISPAT NIGAM LIMITED
(A Government of India Enterprise)
VISAKHAPATNAM STEEL PLANT
PROJECTS DIVISION - CONTRACTS DEPARTMENT
Ph.No. 0891–2518277, Fax No. 0891–2518764
Email: hod_projcont@vizagsteel.com/projcont@vizagsteel.com
Open Tender Notice No.VSP-51 of 2016-17 Dt:06.03.2017

Nissan, Ford, BMW sue Takata over faulty airbag losses
SUSANNAH NESMITH
March 11
Nissan Motor Co., BMW of
North America and Ford Motor
Co. accused Takata Corp. of
fraud in a lawsuit seeking to
force the airbag manufacturer
to cover losses they incur bec-
ause of its faulty inflators that
have been linked to at least 17
deaths worldwide.
The automakers claim the
embattled Tokyo-based com-
pany withheld information
about the inflators, which have
caused airbags to rupture and
injure people. The carmakers
are fighting consumer suits
alleging they knew about the
flawed devices.
“Ford (and other vehicle
manufacturers) would not have
purchased these airbag systems
from Takata as they were had
the true and accurate test data
and information been commu-
nicated to Ford,” the Dearborn,
Michigan-based company said
in its court filing. “If Ford had
known of the true and accurate
information and data, it would
have insisted that the problems
be resolved prior to installation
of the airbags in Ford vehicles
or would have refused to pur-
chase them for installation into
those vehicles.”
Nissan and BMW made sim-
ilar arguments in their filings
Friday in Miami federal court.
The new claims against Ta-
kata come at a precarious time.
Kyodo News reported March 1
that Takata may file for bank-
ruptcy after separating healthy
business units into a new com-
pany. Takata said last month
that its steering committee has
recommended Key Safety, a
US air-bag maker owned by
China’s Ningbo Joyson
Electronic Corp., as its pre-
ferred bidder. Finding a new
owner is a crucial step in the
company’s restructuring.
Last week, attorneys for
accident victims and vehicle
owners suing Takata alleged in
court that the automakers knew
about the inflator defect for
years before a recall of the
airbags began.
BLOOMBERG
Work: 25 KV AC overhead Electrification works of Railway Tracks for
Railway controlled Yards in Central Despatch Yard (CDY) area of
Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (Spec.No.VSP-CDY-ELE-0001)
♦Last date & time for submission of Tenders:Up to 15.00 Hrs on 03.04.2017
♦Date & time of Opening of Tenders: After 15.00 Hrs on 03.04.2017
Contact:Sri K Satish Sai Kumar,DM(PC) cell:+91 891 9000585586
GM(Project Contracts)
For more details & corrigendums please visit regularly
www.vizagsteel.com, http://www.eprocure.gov.in/epublish
JHARKHAND BIJLI VITRAN
NIGAM LIMITED
(CIN: U40108JH2013SGC001702
Office of The General Manager-Cum-Chief Engineer
Electric Supply Area, Giridih
Pin Code- 815301, e-mail id - gmgiridih@gmail.com
Corrigendum
In partial modification of E-Tender Notice for NIT No.
387/PR/JBVNL/2016-17 for empanelment of agencies to provide
technical and non technical manpower resource for 33 KV/ 11 KV/ LT

Intuit looks at GST to expand line, distribution transformer maintenance and 33 /11 KV Power Sub
Station operation & revenue related works under Electric Supply Area,
Giridih. The earnest money of above mention NIT is reduced to
2,60,000.00 instead of 7,66,000.00. Other terms and condition will

small and medium businesses remain same.

AYAN PRAMANIK
Bengaluru, 11 March
Intuit, a software provider to
small businesses, aims to tap a
large number of Indian small
businesses with its readiness
for the goods and services tax
(GST) regime.
With GST, an unified taxa-
tion system across the country,
likely to be implemented from
July 1, the provider of account-
ing software QuickBook belie-
ves it will have an edge over
peers with experience of the
GST roll-out in Malaysia and
Australia. QuickBook is a cloud-
based accounting software for
small businesses that runs on a
subscription model.
Watson Lucas, chief mar-
keting and sales officer, Intuit,
says that while the company is
better positioned to serve its
existing customers once GST is
implemented, it could tap a
large chunk of the 51 million-
odd small businesses in the
country. “We need to make sure
QuickBooks is ready for GST
The $5-billion accounting software provider said in India small
businesses will face complexities once GST comes in
and we think it is a transforma-
tional point. We have 51 million
small businesses in India and 12
million are digitally ready
today. When you have the GST
(compliance) requirement, it
will create a lot more opportu-
nity for us,” Lucas told Business
Standard in an interview.
The $5-billion global
accounting software provider
said small businesses in India
will have complexities once
REUTERS
GST comes in as they need to
file tax multiple times, unlike
the current regime wherein
they file tax twice a year.
“Today, a small business
needs to file tax two times a
year. But, with GST, it will have
to file tax 37 times a year, it will
create huge compliance needs.
And we are better positioned to
help our users in implemen-
tation of GST. We have created
an advisory council for the
Nigam reserve the right to allocate the work sub-division or division
wise also.
process,” pointed out Lucas. PR No. 156154 Sd/- GM-cum-CE
(ESA)Giridih
Intuit is taking account of
each notification from the gov- PR No: 158550(Jharkhand Bijlee Vitran Nigam Ltd)/16-17
ernment regarding GST to www.jharkhandgov.in
incorporate and create new Lofgr ,oa jk"Vªfgr esa ÅtkZ cpkosaA —i;k viuh f'kd;rksa
tools in the software, while it is dks VkWy Qzh uaΠ1800 345 6570 ij ntZ djk;saA
talking to the users continu-
ously to understand the
nuances.
Ajay Pramod of Bengaluru-
based Etag Software Solutions
Pvt Ltd says he switched to
QuickBook three years ago
from an on-premise account-
ing software to get access to
documents everywhere and
save cost too.
“We often faced hiccups and
failed to meet deadlines for
invoices before moving to a
cloud-based service.”
Lucas says a lot of the
QuickBook users are keen to
know how the implementation
of GST will make a difference in
tax compliance. “GST is going
to be on a digital platform since
its inception. And, QuickBook
is on the cloud. So, we expect it
to be fast and transparent taxa-
tion regime,” said Pramod.

Forum plans ~500 cr SBI forms subsidiary

on Bhubaneswar mall for group’s real estate
JAYAJIT DASH & NIRMALYA BEHERA
Bhubaneswar, 11 March
Kolkata-based Forum Group,
which has key business
interests in retail, real estate
and entertainment, has
firmed up an investment of
~500 crore to build the
biggest mall of Bhuban-
eswar. The mall will be
spread over 0.9 million sq ft
and have a built-up space of
450,000 sq ft.
The project, termed “For-
um Esplanade”, is coming up
at one of the strategically lo-
cated areas in the city and is
being built by Leighton, a
major construction and con-
tracting company based out
of Australia.
To house around 150
operators in sectors such as
retail, food and entertain-
ment, the mall counts Mex-
ican multiplex chain Cine-
polis as one of its key anchor
tenants. Cinepolis has com-
mitted a seven-screen multi-
The mall which will be the
biggest in the city counts
Mexican chain Cinepolis as
one of its key anchor tenants
plex with a seating capacity
of 1,250. Retail chains like
Lifestyle, Max and Home
Centre would also put up
shop in the mall complex.
“The Forum Esplanade
project is expected to be
completed by March 2018.
By June this year, we are
hopeful of finalising the leas-
ing space for the mall”, said
Rahul Saraf, managing direc-
tor, Forum Group.
ABHIJIT LELE
Mumbai, 11 March
India’s largest lender, the State
Bank of India, has formed a
subsidiary — SBI Infra Manag-
ement Solutions Pvt. Ltd (SBI-
IMS) — to manage the group’s
real estate and premises. It will
deal with functions including
project management, facility,
transaction management,
advisory services and imple-
mentation of policies.
At present, the real estate
management, a non-core act-
ivity function, is being looked
after by 1,100 officials of the
bank including 200 technical
officials. It made sense to cre-
ate a separate entity employ-
ing a much fewer number of
employees, about 400, to han-
dle the activity more effec-
tively and efficiently, said SBI
chairman Arundhati Bhatta-
charya in a statement.
The decision to incorpo-
rate a separate entity is imple-
mented to save time for the
The real estate management,
a non-core activity, is
currently being looked after
by 1,100 officials of SBI
banks’ executives who were
involved in managing this
non-core business so that they
can instead focus on core
banking services.
SBIIMS Pvt. Ltd. will have
its circle office in each local
head office centre of the SBI
and about 100 zonal offices at
administrative office centre of
the bank on a pan-India basis.
Initially, the subsidiary will
look after work related to the
premises and estates of the
SBI group only.
Record Date for Dividend
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT the Trustees of Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund have approved Friday, March 17, 2017*, as the Record Date for
declaration of dividend subject to availability of distributable surplus on the Record Date, in the following Schemes as under:
Dividend Rate (` per unit # NAV as on
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on face value of ` 10/- per unit) March 10, 2017 (`)
Birla Sun Life Dividend Regular Plan - Dividend
Yield Plus Option 0.32 15.96
Birla Sun Life Balanced Regular Plan - Dividend
Option 4.35 144.36
'95 Fund
The NAV of the schemes, pursuant to pay out of dividend would fall to the extent of the payout
and statutory levy (if applicable).
# As reduced by the amount of applicable statutory levy.
All unitholders whose names appear in the Register of Unitholders / Beneficial owners under the dividend option/plan of the aforesaid Schemes as at
the close of business hours on the Record Date shall be eligible to receive the dividend so declared.
*or the immediately following Business Day if that day is a non-business day.
For Birla Sun Life Asset Management Company Ltd.
(Investment Manager for Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund)
Sd/- Date : March 11, 2017
Authorised Signatory Place : Mumbai
Aim to achieve your goals with Birla Sun Life Mutual Fund’s Systematic Investment Plan - SIP NOW! Visit sipnow.birlasunlife.com
For more information please contact:
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4
> VERDICT MUMBAI | 12 MARCH 2017 1
2017z UTTAR PRADESH

‘Modi’fied UP breaks
403 Assembly
constituencies
Hindu-Muslim matrix SHEKHAR GUPTA

Modi government’s pro-poor agenda and its strategy of reaching out to

SEATS WON
„ BJP „ SP „ BSP „ Cong
non-Yadav OBCs and non-Jatav Dalits seem to have worked Maximum Modi,
„ Others ARCHIS MOHAN & RADHIKA RAMASESHAN minimum

PHOTO: REUTERS
19 New Delhi, 11 March
(22.2)
opportunity
P
eople of Uttar Pradesh had risen
above caste and community affili-
312 47 ations to deliver a mandate in
(39.7) (21.7)
favour of economic development sym- Narendra Modi is now the new
2017 bolised by Prime Minister Narendra
18 (10.2) Modi, said Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) colossus of Indian politics. The
7 (6.2) President Amit Shah on Saturday.
„ SP „ BSP „ BJP „ Cong
He said Modi had found the widest question is no longer winning 2019,
„ RLD „ Others possible support, including from OBCs
and Dalits, adding, UP voters had come
but what will he do with this status
28 out of the Hindu-Muslim matrix and
80 (11.65)

T
wanted economic progress and develop- he description “tectonic shift” was first used for election
224 (25.91) ment. Other BJP leaders said the party results this morning by Union Cabinet minister Ravi
47
(29.13) (15) had received votes from the Muslim com- Shankar Prasad. It has since gathered currency among
munity as well. pundits and partisans. Narendra Modi has swept Uttar Pradesh
2012 So incensed was Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP) chief Mayawati at her party’s loss
as no one had since the post-Emergency Janata wave. Congress
looks at single figures in a state where its vice-president cam-
15
9 (2.33) that she alleged EVM (Electronic Voting paigned as “UP ka ladka”. The BJP has similarly swept
% vote share in brackets Machine) fraud. As evidence of this, Uttarakhand and become a real force in Manipur, where it was
Mayawati said it was unbelievable that non-existent. Surely, this is a tectonic shift.
the BJP could win in seats where Muslims I would contest it, but simply on the basis that “tectonic”
UTTAR PRADESH KEY were in a majority.
It would seem the Modi government’s caste candidate gained currency when ward caste and so is Maurya. We should
change is too mild for a power shift that resets not just the polit-
ical geography of India, but also its sociology, psychology and
ECONOMIC INDICATORS pro-poor agenda and its strategy of reach- the central leaders chose Keshav Prasad go in for an upper caste CM to keep the ideological pathologies.
ing out to non-Yadav OBCs and non-Jatav Maurya, from the backward caste of caste balance,” he said. While Sharma is The big pointers first. Modi has now risen as India’s most pop-
Dalits has worked. The BJP, along with Mauryas, to helm the party in the state a Brahmin, Sinha is a Bhumihar. ular mass leader since Indira Gandhi in her heyday and he has
POPULATION ally Apna Dal, had won 73 of the 80 seats last year. Maurya was also placed promi- Sinha could emerge as a consensus earned it all from his own effort rather than build on a legacy.
in UP in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections with nently in the phalanx of the BJP brass in candidate not only because the PM Second, he has acquired control of the ruling party as no Indian
0.16 bn 0.19 bn a vote share of 42.3 per cent. It had won the campaign. It was even assumed that admires him for his work ethic but leader did, not even Rajiv Gandhi, since Indira Gandhi. It follows
2001 2011 337 of the 403 Assembly segments. The he was a probable CM candidate. Bhumihars are a caste more preponder- that it redefines the BJP for the first time as a party with a supre-
party proved that was no flash in the pan Asked if the candidate would be a ant in neighbouring Bihar, while they mo, a prime vote-catcher and a personality cult of its own. With
by winning 312 seats with 39.7 per cent. Member of Parliament (MP) or a are electorally insignificant in him, his brilliant, all-conquering electoral field marshal Amit
GSDP AT CONSTANT PRICE % With both the Samajwadi Party (SP) legislator, the source said, “I A top BJP UP. This caste neutrality of Shah has also risen as the most powerful chief of a national
and BSP winning around 22 per cent vote cannot rule out either.” The source Sinha could help him in a bat- party since K Kamaraj in the 1960s.
Uttar Pradesh India share each and the Congress’ seven per cryptic answer could bring said that caste tle where rival caste groups, Modi is the first leader from outside the heartland to acquire
7.30
cent, the writing is on the wall for these Union Home Minister Rajnath might not be like Brahmins and Thakurs, such national stature, the first, let’s qualify, after Independence.
5.78 6.00 parties that they needed to follow Bihar Singh into the reckoning. He the primary would compete to get one of At the risk of being misconstrued, let me add that the last non-
4.95 4.74 kind of “grand alliance” to ensure “index had indicated in the past that determinant their own to occupy the chair. heartland leader to acquire such pan-Indian stature was only the
4.47 of Opposition unity” if they seek to defeat he was “not interested” in in zeroing in Sources privy to the decision- Mahatma. No comparisons here, except that he too came from
the Modi-led BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha returning to his home state. on a name making processes in the top Gujarat. Modi has now acquired an aura that dazzles beyond par-
elections. According to BJP sources, a pos- BJP echelon said that, ulti- tisan politics. Even those who disagree with him, and vote
Speculation has intensified on who sible perception about Singh is that he is mately, Modi and Shah would do what against him, say they do not suspect his personal integrity and
will be Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister. A seen as a “weighty” leader with the poten- they did when the party won Haryana good intention — the reason they’ve been forgiving on
top BJP source told Business Standard tial of emerging as a power centre parallel and Maharashtra. The BJP’s parliamen- demonetisation after suffering severely from it.
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 that caste might not be the primary to the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah duo, giv- tary board will meet on Sunday to Modi’s most loyal supporters also acknowledge that on the
determinant in zeroing in on a name. en UP’s primacy in central politics. announce its chief ministers for UP and economy, reform, social messaging, his record halfway past his
“There’s a lot of talk on the backward Central minister and Gautam Buddha Uttarakhand. first term as prime minister has been patchy. “Wait for his sec-
ANNUAL GROWTH RATE OF INDUSTRY AT castes’ consolidation in our favour. But Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma is recognised Samajwadi Party sources said that ond term,” they say, “learn from his history in Gujarat”. His first
CONSTANT (2004-05) PRICES % our social engineering has ceased from as another probable candidate, as is Mulayam Singh Yadav was expected to term as chief minister was contentious, overly political and divi-
1.95 1.93 today after the results started coming,” Ghazipur MP Manoj Sinha, the telecom convene a meeting immediately after sive. In the second, he focused on the economy and infrastruc-
2.14 the leader said. minister and junior railway minister. Holi where the question of Akhilesh ture and built the springboard for national power later. It was also
The debate over whether UP’s top job Another source added a new element Yadav’s leadership was expected to be in his second term that he totally defanged the RSS, filed sedi-
would go to a backward class or an upper to the debate. “PM Modi is from a back- resurrected. tion cases against the troublesome VHP leaders and demol-
ished scores of illegally-built temples
in his encroachment clearing drive. The Modi-Shah
It would be reasonable to believe strategy has
that this sweeping victory has brought isolated the Muslim
PROFILE that second term forward as 2019 seems vote and proved its
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 AMIT SHAH The Shah of UP more a certainty now. The defeat of the irrelevance. The
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab and ‘secular’ parties
destruction in Goa should also detox have to rewrite
ANNUAL GROWTH RATE OF SERVICES AT ARCHIS MOHAN from both, particularly from Bihar his mind of any insecurities in Gujarat their politics
CONSTANT (2004-05) PRICES % New Delhi, 11 March where local leaders had complained later this year. His party and the RSS are entirely if we are
that they were kept out of the loop totally beholden to him. He has that not to see the rise
8.26 His closest aides say Bharatiya Janata and central leaders had done all the greatest weapon, a brahmastra if you so of Muslim
7.82 7.73 Party (BJP) President Amit Shah decision-making. The party was care- prefer, that a mass leader has: The abil- radical parties
transformed the work culture at the ful not to repeat these mistakes in ity to bring votes. Or, to put it more sim-
party’s national headquarters at 11, Uttar Pradesh. ply, the ability to get lamp-posts elected.
Ashoka Road. If earlier party office- Shah, ably supported by Uttar The question now is: How will he use this power? Will he get
bearers were selected for their ability Pradesh state unit general secretary off the electoral juggernaut now and focus on economic change
to perform parikrama, literally cir- (organisation) Sunil Bansal, stitched as he did in Gujarat 2007 onwards? Will he invest his phenom-
cumambulation but denoting syco- a patchwork of non-Yadav OBC and enal persuasive skills along with his credibility to sell more chal-
phancy, of the then party presidents, non-Jatav Dalit castes, to lead BJP to lenging ideas of change: Economic and governance reform,
now people are rewarded for their a splendid victory in Uttar reducing the size of the government, make durable peace with
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 parakram, or performance. Pradesh. He has also overseen a the neighbours and make the future secure for our future
Shah is known to keep a track of transformation of party’s district unit generations. He now has that kind of opportunity.
the days party office bearers attend leaderships by appointing leaders Other lessons from this result are simpler. To the Congress, it
PER CAPITA NSDP AT CURRENT PRICES office, whether they are punctual and from these castes to perform is that times when its first family could get it votes ended a long
(2004-05 BASE) the time they devote to meet party key roles. time ago although the fluke success in 2004 deluded it into believ-
Uttar Pradesh India workers who come to the party head- The 52-year-old has also kept the ing these were back. Second, that Rahul isn’t a mass leader. He can
quarters from across the country. workers galvanised to organise com- keep the party together, but unless he learns to run it like a hold-
74,380 Party office bearers are also required munity and caste specific outreach ing company with truly empowered CEOs, there is no future.
67,839
61,855 to make frequent visits to the states and to take Modi government’s pro- He must acknowledge then that Amarinder (whom he does-
that they are responsible for. poor schemes to the people. n’t particularly like) swept Punjab while he got swept out of
In ensuring BJP’s victories, Shah There has been speculation that Uttar Pradesh. In Manipur, a strong local leadership has pretty
36,250 has had a good record since he took Shah would prefer to return to much held its own. In Uttarakhand, Harish Rawat lost badly, but
30,021 33,482 over the reins of the BJP’s organisa- Gujarat as the chief minister, partic- remember he is a truly popular local leader who was sidelined
tion in June 2014. His two blemishes ularly since the Gujarat polls are until 2016, while power was given to serial defectors, the
have been the setbacks the party suf- scheduled by the end of this year. But Bahuguna offspring. Rahul Gandhi has to seriously reflect on his
fered in Delhi and Bihar Assembly Shah is important to BJP and Prime former Assam loyalist Himanta Biswa Sarma’s words, that he
polls in 2015. Minister Narendra Modi’s efforts to only relates to those with “blue blood”, or entitled political lega-
2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 However, Shah learnt quickly win the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. tees. This election, like several before this, tells you that there is
nothing the young Indian detests more than a sense of entitle-
ment. This is, as I have said before, a non-ideological, I-don’t-owe-
you-nothing young India. Don’t try impressing them with your
ancestors’ track record. Talk about yours.
PEOPLE AND POLLS For the caste-based Uttar Pradesh parties, it’s time to reboot,
or go into sanyas. For three decades in the heartland, the BJP has
worked on a strategy to re-stitch with faith (Hindutva) what
Modi’s Uttar Pradesh face party appointed non-Yadav
OBCs as chiefs of several
Working up the ladder the first time in 1996.
As minister of state for
caste divided. If only Hindus could vote together than be divid-
ed as upper/lower/middle castes, the BJP would be unbeatable.
If Kalyan Singh became the district units. The objective Manoj Sinha is a three-time railways, he had started trains L K Advani succeeded once with the Mandir movement. But that
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s was to consolidate castes such Lok Sabha member and to connect eastern UP’s towns was short-lived. Modi and Amit Shah have now done this by deft-
backward caste icon in the as Kushwaha, Kurmi, Shakya, telecom minister in the and cities, including the prime ly weaving it in a new, majoritarian Indian nationalism. This has
1991 Assembly polls in Uttar Patel and others to complem- Narendra Modi government. minister’s constituency of more oomph and longer legs than a mere temple. Akhilesh
Pradesh in the wake of the ent the BJP’s core support He is a Bhumihar, a caste Varanasi. Deputy to minister Yadav’s future lies in reinventing himself as a pan-caste young
Mandal-Kamandal discourse, base among the upper castes. group preponderant Suresh Prabhu, Sinha had leader (he’s younger than Kejriwal and Rahul). Mayawati is
the party’s choice fell upon Maurya, 48, has been a in neighbouring Bihar but impressed Modi as efficient looking down the barrel.
Keshav Prasad Maurya to fill RSS volunteer and served in numerically insignificant in and was promoted to manage In fact, it is the Muslim voter now who’d contemplate the
that space for the 2017 polls. leadership roles in the Uttar Pradesh. This could the telecom ministry with future. The Modi-Shah strategy has isolated the Muslim vote and
In the 2014 Lok Sabha poll, Vishwa Hindu Parishad in work in Sinha’s favour when independent charge in a July proved its irrelevance. The “secular” parties have to rewrite their
the BJP found support among UP. He has also served as caste groups within the 2016 reshuffle. An MP from politics entirely if we are not to see the rise of Muslim
non-Yadav OBCs and non- regional president of the Bharatiya Janata Party Ghazipur, Sinha was entrusted radical parties, many mini Leagues and further ghettoisation.
Jatav Dalits in Uttar Pradesh. party’s Backward Classes cell compete to have one of their with delivering the seven And finally: Kejriwal and the AAP have made a strong state-
For 2017, it went about in the Kashi region. There own ascend the chief Assembly segments in his ment in Punjab. If it feels like failure, it is because it believed its
consolidating this support by were murmurs in the party ministerial post in Lucknow. parliamentary constituency. own hype of sweeping Punjab and Goa. But to finish second in
giving more representation to about criminal cases pending Sinha, 57, is a civil engineer The challenge was enormous an unfamiliar state ahead of the strongest traditional coalition
these castes, particularly the in courts of law against from Banaras Hindu as the party won none of these is an achievement. What’s been pricked is its “me-all-conquer-
K P MAURYA non-Yadav OBCs, in the Maurya but these were
MANOJ University. He was also a in 2012. And, in the Samajwadi ing” hubris. It has to focus on the task at hand, not run ahead of
STATE BJP CHIEF, leadership. brushed aside. SINHA student leader and president Party government, Chief the ball, consolidate its still formidable hold over Delhi. It’s a cru-
UTTAR PRADESH Maurya, a Lok Sabha “I got inspired to do social MOS (INDEPENDENT of the Kashi Hindu Minister Akhilesh Yadav el but accurate way to put it, so I shall go ahead: the AAP’s
member from Phulpur, was service and educated myself CHARGE) TELECOM Vishwavidyalaya Students appointed four of the party’s national ambitions deflated, it has to humbly return to munic-
made the UP state unit chief in during childhood while Union in 1982-83. Sinha was legislators from Ghazipur in ipal concerns, particularly with the Delhi corporation elections
April 2016. Subsequently, the selling tea,” Maurya says. elected to the Lok Sabha for his council of ministers. coming up.
.
MUMBAI | 12 MARCH 2017
VERDICT 5 <

2017z UTTAR PRADESH

Power politics: UP and running SANJAY K SHARMA

The brief from the BJP-led govt at the Centre
was clear: Electrification and energisation
should be carried out on a war footing
JYOTI MUKUL
New Delhi, 11 March
A meme circulated on WhatsApp
during campaigning for the recent
Assembly elections showed
Congress Vice-President Rahul
Gandhi trying to duck electricity
cables on stage. In the same picture,
Uttar Pradesh (UP) Chief Minister
and we had to be cautious about acci-
dents,” said an official. Earlier too, in
Raebareli and Amethi, constituencies
represented by the Gandhi family, R JAGANNATHAN
works have been carried out with
more vigour than in other areas. “The
Modi during an election speech at
Fathepur said, “If you provide unin-
terrupted power supply for Eid, then
difference is that implementation
under the National Democratic
Alliance is faster,” the official said.
Verdict shows
you should also do it for Holi.” Though
the charge was later refuted by the
Samajwadi Party, it was a reflection
A GVA working in the Agra region
said sometimes the state government
refused to cooperate for the DDUGJY,
2014 win
of the BJP’s attempt to make electric-
ity a central theme. It turned out to be
one of the issues that worked for the
taking the plea that it had its hands
full with the RGGVY. GVAs have been
appointed by REC, a central govern-
was no fluke
BJP in Uttar Pradesh, said the chair- ment undertaking, to monitor the

Akhilesh Yadav seemed unper-
turbed. The caption said Akhilesh
knew there was no electricity run-
ning in the cables.
The picture, passed around by offi-
cials in Union Power Minister Piyush
Goyal’s office, became a metaphor for
the high-pitched election campaign in
UP. Electricity for all has never been as
strong a political plank as this time,
though infrastructure, or the lack of it,
has been a poll issue for almost two
decades now. Executives in public sec-
tor power undertakings and ground-
level workers, the Grameen
Vidyutikaran Abhiyantas (GVAs), told
Business Standard the brief from the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led gov-
ernment at the Centre was clear:
Electrification and energisation (con-
nected households) should be carried
out on a war footing.
The issue took on communal
tones when Prime Minister Narendra
POLL PROMISES
man of a public sector power under-
taking on condition of anonymity.
Power is the most happening
industry for the National Democratic
Alliance and with the BJP victory in
UP, it has made Goyal a star among
Union ministers. Not only was Modi’s
Varanasi constituency the fulcrum of
Goyal’s electricity-centric campaign,
the Centre often engaged in public
spats with the UP government over
electrification. “There were three lev-
els of monitoring—the PSU brass
themselves, the Union power min-
istry, and the Prime Minister’s Office,”
said the PSU chairman. Though work
on rural electrification the under Rajiv
Gandhi Vidyutikaran Yojana (RGGVY)
was started by the United Progressive
Alliance, rechristening of the scheme
as Deendayal Upadhyay Grameen
Vidyutikaran Yojana (DDUGJY) and
grandfathering works under the ear-
lier scheme led to better implemen-
UTTAR PRADESH POWER PROFILE
AT&C losses* (% of total power)
34.22 28.27
32.36 23.63
19.36
14.86
‘14-15 ‘15-16 ‘16-17 ‘17-18 ‘18-19 ‘19-20 **Of total electrified
*AT&C loss reduction trajectory is as per MoU signed under UDAY
tation of the power-for-all programme.
According to the GARV portal main-
tained by Rural Electrification
Corporation, 96 per cent of the 1,529
unelectrified villages in UP in April 2015
have now been electrified. The nation-
al average is 68 per cent. The impact
rural electrification programme.
While the DDUGJY is monitored
and partially funded by REC, the
Integrated Power Development
Scheme is spearheaded by Power
Grid Corporation. The Centre pro-
Total unelectrified vides financial assistance for capital
villages (As on April 2015) expenditure to improve the trans-
53 12
mission and distribution network.
„ Electrified** 1,464
1,464 End-to-end metering is also done.
„ Uninhabited 53 The aims are to provide power supply
1,529
„ To be electrified 12 round the clock in urban areas, grid
Total 1,529 connectivity to rural areas, and to
reduce transmission and commer-
cial losses. For Varanasi alone,
Source: Govt of India around ~532 crore has been provided
under the IPDS, of which ~432 crore
rate of the programme in the state is 34 is for the Old Kashi area where
per cent against the national average underground cables are being laid.
of 27 per cent. With 40 per cent of the work done,
When it comes to Varanasi, offi- the project is expected to be com-
cials pointed out that PSUs had to be pleted by December 2017. PowerGrid
extra careful in Modi’s constituency. has also taken up three districts for
“The monitoring was more intense rural electrification.
T
here is always a tendency to read too much, or too
little, into poll verdicts. But even with this caveat,
it is difficult to not be swayed by the scale and
sweep of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s victory in
Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, its spectacular rise in
Manipur, and its ability to stay in the fight in Goa despite
splitting from its erstwhile partners and an internal revolt.
In Punjab, where the defeat of the Akali-BJP coalition was
foretold, the development worth noting is not the
Congress’ thumping victory, but the underwhelming
performance of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). In terms of
popular vote, the Akali-BJP combo was streets ahead of
the AAP, despite coming a cropper in terms of seats.
The implications of the verdict are the following.
Narendra Modi retains a strong hold on the popular
imagination, and his party is the primary pole of Indian
politics, at least till 2019 proves us otherwise. The
Congress is a declining force, and the Gandhi family is
clearly not up to the challenge. If the BJP has to be hum-
bled, it can only be through an all-encompassing alliance
of other major parties, as we saw in Bihar, but not quite
in UP. Reason: Modi has broken through the clutter of
caste, class and community, and overlaid it with the log-
ic of broad aspiration. Demonetisation, which alienated
a core BJP constituency (traders), has ensured a larger
base among the poor, who saw in it a demonstration of
Modi’s commitment to go after the corrupt rich. Modi is
now backed by a broader coalition of aspirational castes,
a kind of mild Hindu vote consolidation. This is the only

Crop loan waiver to cost ~8,000 crore thing that can explain the total eclipse of Mayawati’s
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), not once, but twice — in 2014
and now.
But even as we look at the larger meaning of the ver-
SANJEEB MUKHERJEE waiver can only be done by the had too many conditions that ren- dict, a quick summary of the mandate in each state would
New Delhi, 11 March Centre.
The share of farm loans taken
dered it ineffective.
Around 80 per cent of all land
KEY be useful.
By far the big message is from Uttar Pradesh, which
With agriculture contributing over from state-level financial institutions holdings in India — which is expect- NUMBERS was the biggest contributor to the BJP’s victory in 2014.
27 per cent to Uttar Pradesh’s net is barely a third of the total. Over 70 ed to be roughly the same for UP as A brief snapshot and The state has always played a large role in national poli-
state domestic product, the incom- per cent of all farm credit in a finan- well — according to government economic indicators of tics by virtue of its contribution of 80 seats to the Lok
ing Bharatiya Janata Party govern- cial year is disbursed by scheduled data, are with small and marginal Uttar Pradesh Sabha. By winning a three-quarters majority in the
ment’s promise to waive loans taken commercial banks. In Uttar Pradesh, farmers — those who own less than Assembly, the BJP has demonstrated that the 2014 win
by small and marginal farmers, an of the estimated ~75,000 crore farm two hectares. These farmers own Around 199 million was no fluke. The state is probably tired of playing second
assurance Prime Minister Narendra loans outstanding two years ago, just almost 40 per cent of the total arable Population fiddle in national politics, with regional parties frittering
Modi repeated several times during around ~8,000 crore has been lent land in the state. away their energies in narrow caste and communal pol-
his campaign, looks impressive on by state cooperatives and PACS. This “Waiver of crop loans for any cat- 22.3% Urbanisation itics. This time the state voted for a national party with a
paper and could go a long way in number includes loans availed by all egory of farmers is not healthy as it 67.8% Literacy vengeance — and UP is back to the centre stage of nation-
reducing farm indebtedness. But categories of farmers and not just vitiates the lending culture and is al politics.
experts feel a waiver of crop loans small and marginal. The outgoing not good for the banking system,” 12,932 Crime per million The question is how did Modi and Amit Shah do it?
can have a negative impact on cred- Samajwadi Party government, too, said Mahendra Dev, director of the The answer is complex and needs elaboration. It com-
it quality in farming. had in 2012 announced a waiver of Mumbai-based Indira Gandhi ~37,240 crore bines two opposites — the politics
Also, state governments can only crop loans up to ~50,000 taken from Institute of Developmental Research New investments in FY16 of exclusion and inclusion in UP. Demonetisation
waive crop loans taken from cooper- state cooperative banks. The waiver (IGIDR). He said if the waiver only ~39,859 crore The MY (Muslim-Yadav) formula of has ensured a
ative banks and primary agricultur- cost the Uttar Pradesh exchequer covered loans taken from coopera- the Samajwadi Party and the Dalit- larger base
Completed projects in FY16
al cooperative societies (PACS), around ~1,650 crore per year and was tive banks, it was all the more prob- Brahmin combo of the Bahujan among the poor,
which extend a small part of total roundly criticised by Opposition par- lematic because the financial health Samaj Party (in 2007) are essential- who saw in BJP a
Source: Report By Care
farm loans. Most farmers take loans ties on the grounds that it excluded of cooperative banks was in any case Ratings ly exclusionary in nature, since they demonstration
from nationalised banks and a big scheduled commercial banks and not very good. eliminate other castes from a share of Modi’s
in power. Since you don’t need more commitment
than 30 per cent of the vote to win to go after the
power in a multi-horse race under a corrupt rich
first-past-the-post system, two or
three large groups can hijack the state to the exclusion of
PROFILE
No threat to Akhilesh’s leadership in party the rest. The BJP-led coalition this time included the
excluded OBC castes. Not surprisingly, it aggregated near-
ly 40 per cent of the vote. Contrast that with the Samajwadi
AKHILESH YADAV AMIT AGNIHOTRI
New Delhi, 11 March
ership in the coming days. The challenge for
him would be to present the party as an effec-
may continue with their pact. In fact, at one
point when the Yadav family feud was at its
Party’s majority in 2012 with less than 30 per cent of the
vote. But the BJP currently excludes Muslims. For a sus-
tive Opposition both within and outside the peak and a split in the SP seemed imminent, tainable future in UP, the party needs to fix this gap as soon
A drubbing in the Uttar Pradesh (UP) Assembly. SP’s 47-elected lawmakers will meet Rahul was inclined only to join hands with as possible. If it does that, it will be the dominant party of
Assembly polls is unlikely to cast cloud over soon to decide the legislative party leader. the Akhilesh faction, as the young CM had India for the foreseeable future. If it does not do that, it is
former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s lead- However, whether Akhilesh entrusts veteran carved out an image of a clean and pro-devel- not difficult to predict a Bihar-style Mahagathbandhan
ership in the Samajwadi Party (SP). Azam Khan with the key responsibility or not opment politician for himself as many in the seeking to defeat it in 2019.
Akhilesh, who emerged from the shadows remains to be seen, they said. state were wary of Shivpal calling the shots in Uttarakhand needs no elaborate analysis: A simple
of his father and Samajwadi Party founder, With a subdued Bahujan Samaj Party and the party. mix of anti-incumbency and the Modi magic has worked
Mulayam Singh Yadav, just a few months ago a feeble Congress, the challenge to counter However, a disgruntled Shivpal, who was wonders. The fact that the state provides a dispropor-
and was appointed the national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party government will somehow convinced by Mulayam Singh to tionate share of soldiers to the Indian armed forces
the party, would continue to hold the post, rest solely with the SP. Sources said once the accept Akhilesh’s ascension as SP chief, may helped. The surgical strikes were a matter of pride here,
sources said. That means more of an advisory government formation is over in Lucknow, choose to part ways in the comings days. and so was OROP (One Rank One Pension) – which has
role for Mulayam Singh, who backed his son, the party will convene a national executive to That event, if it happens, is unlikely to weak- benefited more retired soldiers than it has upset.
but doubts still remain over the future of ponder over the causes for the poll results en the party, said SP sources. In contrast, Even in Punjab, what needs elaboration is not the
Mulayam’s brother Shivpal Singh Yadav, who and decide on the future course of action. Mulayam’s cousin Ram Gopal Yadav, who Congress victory, but AAP’s abject meltdown. The scale
was locked in a bitter power struggle with Akhilesh is young and has long years backed Akhilesh in the power struggle, will of the Congress’s win is exaggerated by seat count, but the
Akhilesh till recently and may have rocked ahead of him even though his friendship with continue to lead the party in the Rajya Sabha. underlying reality is that the vote was not only against the
the SP boat from within. Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi did Party leaders said they will remind the Akali-BJP government (anti-incumbency) but also
Party sources claimed that as most office not help him in terms of electoral gains, said voters about the work done by the against AAP in some way. The exit polls gave AAP near
bearers, party MLAs and MPs sided with the sources.The two, who outlined a new Akhilesh government but acknowledged parity with the Congress but in the final seat count, its seat
Akhilesh before the Assembly polls, the former vision for UP’s development and tried to work that dealing with the BJP’s brute majority tally is in the low-20s, less than a third of what Amarinder
CM is unlikely to face any threats to his lead- out a template for the 2019 national elections, may not be easy. Singh got for the Congress. This outcome can only be
explained by the possibility that a chunk of the Akali-BJP
base voted tactically for the Congress to keep AAP out,
once they realised that their own parties weren’t going to
make it. This is also obvious from the vote share, where
PEOPLE AND POLLS Congress got around 38 per cent, Akalis 25 per cent, BJP
five per cent and AAP 24 per cent. AAP was No. 2 in the
vote count despite fielding candidates almost every-
Ensuring war well waged recognition that Bansal would be
a key strategist for the UP
Behenji’s reworked social Mayawati’s politics has come a
long way in her career spanning
where. Arvind Kejriwal needs to analyse why his ship
foundered so close to the shore.
from Lucknow Assembly poll of 2017. Since then,
the 47-year-old has worked from
engineering formula flops over 30 years. Thrice lucky to get
the support of other parties to
The BJP has reasons to worry about Goa, which has giv-
en a hung verdict, and its chief minister was humbled by
In June 2013, the Bharatiya Janata his office on the first floor at the Mayawati’s social engineering form a coalition government, being defeated in his constituency. Clearly, in smaller states,
Party announced Narendra Modi BJP headquarters in Lucknow, formula helped Bahujan Samaj Mayawati discovered her real leadership counts as much as the overall popularity of the
as its prime ministerial candidate with the twin agenda of keeping Party (BSP) win a majority in the potential when the BSP formed a party. While the BJP remains the single largest party, Modi’s
for the 2014 Lok Sabha election. the cadres galvanised and Uttar Pradesh elections but she majority government on its own decision to elevate Manohar Parrikar to defence minister has
Modi handpicked Shah to focus expanding the party’s social base. was not that lucky this time with in 2007. The graduation of Dalit clearly cost the party the state. But the party remains a
on the 80 Lok Sabha seats of Uttar He has also been the link between its reworked version. ki beti(Dalit’s daughter) is well viable force. Kejriwal should worry more. His party came
Pradesh. In turn, Shah discovered the RSS and BJP state units. The Out of power for two manifested in the iconic slogan fifth in terms of vote share, with just over six per cent.
Sunil Bansal, a former Akhil BJP’s strategy has been to reach consecutive terms and drawing a of the party tilak-taraju aur In Manipur, once again, while Congress and BJP seem
Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad out to non-Jatav Dalits and non- blank in the 2014 Lok Sabha talwar, inko maro jutey chaar to be in a dead heat at the time of writing and the results indi-
activist from Rajasthan, to be his Yadav OBC castes. The party’s elections, the BSP failed to strike eventually turning to haathi cated a hung Assembly, the point worth underscoring is that
eyes and ears in the state. leadership in the districts, as also a chord with the voters winning nahi Ganesh hai, Brahma the BJP is a rising force in the north-east, with Manipur
Shah and Bansal’s hard work distribution of party tickets, just 20 seats. Mayawati gave Vishnu Mahesh hai. Her rise being only the latest exhibit. It was No. 1 in vote share.
yielded the BJP, along with ally reflected this. This was resented tickets to 97 Muslim candidates from humble beginnings aptly Overall, 2017 gives us an answer about 2019 too. Till
Apna Dal, 73 of the 80 seats in among its predominantly upper and inducted tainted MLA from described as “miracle of now, the big question was: How will BJP win in 2019,
SUNIL India’s most populous state. That caste leadership but Bansal was MAYAWATI Purvanchal Mukhtar Ansari, his democracy” by former prime when it is impossible to repeat its overwhelming win in
BANSAL victory paved the way for Shah to unrelenting in pushing the state BAHUJAN SAMAJ brothers Afzal Ansari and minister P V Narasimha Rao, UP, which contributed a fourth of its Lok Sabha seats? Its
BJP’S JOINT become national president of the unit in organising meetings of PARTY SUPREMO Sigbatullah Ansari, and son attracted as much praise as thundering win in UP now shows that while the NDA may
GENERAL party. Within days, Bansal was booth-level workers and Abbas. From conjuring up the controversy and gave her an not get 73 seats from UP, it will not fall far short either. Not
SECRETARY appointed joint general secretary increasing the party’s image of an upper caste basher to iconic stature, which her when it is gaining elsewhere, including the north-east.
ORGANISATION (organisation) in the Uttar engagements with Dalits, OBCs, the most significant symbol of opponents can criticise but
(UP STATE UNIT) Pradesh unit. This was a women and youth. social change, 61-year-old never ignore. PTI The author is editorial director of Swarajya Magazine
6
> VERDICT MUMBAI | 12 MARCH 2017 1
2017 z PUNJAB

Congress makes the PROFILE

AMARINDER SINGH

117 Assembly
constituencies
change after 10 years The last hurrah of
the Maharaja
AAP and its ally, the Lok Insaaf Party, got 20 seats as Kejriwal’s party lacked a pathy and further his poll
prospects. However, his decision
SEATS WON credible regional face who could implement its poll promises follows a long political career and 11
parliamentary and state elections.
„ Cong „ AAP „ SAD „ BJP education,” Singh said. Singh created Singh, an alumnus of the pres-
„ Lok Insaaf Party more news by not giving much credit to tigious Doon School, based his
3
(5.4) poll strategist Prashant Kishor for the vic- hopes on the anti-incumbency
tory. “It is a win of the Congress workers. wave against the Badal govern-
20 Kishor was there to make strategies, but it ment and the Aam Aadmi Party
77 (23.7) was the Congress workers who imple- failing to gain ground before the
(38.5) mented them,” the chief ministerial can- elections. But he had to change
15
(25.2) didate said. Kishor has been credited with his strategy mid-way by launching
2017 successfully running Narendra Modi’s a tirade against Delhi Chief
2 2014 Lok Sabha campaign and Bihar Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The sea-
„ SAD „ Cong „ BJP Minister Nitish Kumar’s Assembly cam- soned politician also launched a
„ Independents paign last year. campaign to discredit Kejriwal
12 Political experts say the results showed and other AAP leaders by sug-
(7.18) that the SAD-BJP alliance managed to save gesting their links with “militants
46 its face despite the strong anti-incumben- and gangsters”.
56 (40.09) cy. “It showed that SAD was still popular The Congress and the SAD-BJP
(34.73) among masses and people had benefited alliance allegedly ran a smear cam-
2012 from their schemes. SAD suffered because
of its unconstitutional appointment of peo- SAHIL MAKKAR
paign against Kejriwal, focusing
on the latter’s supposed failures as
*SAD and BJP had a prepoll alliance
3 ple in charge of districts who wrongly New Delhi, 11 March Delhi chief minister. Congress
% of vote share in brackets wielded power and influence. AAP failed to insiders say it was a conscious
capture the anti-incumbency votes and a Nothing can be a better birthday attempt to seed doubts in the
chance to become a formidable force,” said gift than winning the highest num- minds of the voters. The other con-
PUNJAB KEY ECONOMIC Pramod Kumar, director of the Institute for ber of seats and getting a shot at scious attempt the Congress party
Development and Communication at the chief ministerial post. Captain made was to reinvent the image
INDICATORS Chandigarh. Amarinder Singh, whose father of Singh with the help of poll
Experts said the voters didn’t buy the was the king of Patiala, turned 75 strategist Prashant Kishore. Singh
POPULATION AAP idea of bringing “a change” in the on March 11, the day the Congress has earned the epithet of not being
BIG WINS IN PUNJAB state for various reasons. The foremost came back to power. accessible to people and getting
24.3 mn 27.7 mn Wining leader Runner-up Consituency
was that AAP lacked a credible regional
face who could implement its poll prom-
Singh fought the 2017 Punjab
Assembly elections with vigour
up late in the morning. Kishor
tried to change this perception by
2001 2011 Parkash Singh Badal (SAD) Amarinder Singh (Cong) Lambi ises. It mostly remained an outside par- and craft. He didn’t want any last- holding events such as “Coffee
Amarinder Singh (Cong) Balbir Singh (AAP) Patiala ty and its central leadership deputed to minute surprises. with Captain” in colleges. The
GSDP AT CONSTANT PRICE % Sukhbir Singh Badal (SAD) Bhagwant Mann (AAP) Jalalabad oversee the elections in Punjab got Unlike Parkash Singh Badal, emphasis was laid more on Singh’s
embroiled in allegations of corruption Punjab’s 89-year-old chief minis- military background as Punjab
Punjab India Navjot Singh Sidhu (Cong) Rajesh Kumar (BJP) Amritsar East and sex scandals. AAP failed to build a ter, Singh realised that it was his borders Pakistan. Singh had joined
7.30 Manpreet Badal (Cong) Deepak Bansal (AAP) Bhatinda (Urban) strong cadre and alienated strong and last chance of becoming chief min- the Army in June 1963 before
Parminder Singh Dhindsa (SAD) Rajinder Kaur Bhattal (Cong) Lehra influential leaders like Sucha Singh ister. Singh, who made his Lok resigning in early 1965. He rejoined
5.73 5.32 Chhottepur and Dharamvir Gandhi, AAP Sabha debut in 1980, vowed not to the army and served as Capitan
HS Phoolka (AAP) Manpreet Singh (SAD) Dakha
4.64 4.47 4.74 member of parliament from Patiala, just contest elections after this time. when war broke out between India
before the elections. Some say it was to gain public sym- and Pakistan in 1965.
SAHIL MAKKAR 33 Assembly segments and was second in Its other so-called senior leaders left
New Delhi, 11 March another six. It, however, failed to replicate the party mid-way after being denied the
the performance in the Assembly elections. poll ticket. Most of its candidates were
ARVIND KEJRIWAL
T
he outcome of the 2017 Punjab Its votes share also plummeted drastically. unpopular among voters. Its star cam-
Assembly elections was full of sur- In the Lok Sabha elections it had got 34 per paigners including Sangrur MP
2012-13 2013-14 2014-15 prises. The three-cornered fight am- cent votes whereas this time it Bhagwant Mann and Jarnail

ANNUAL GROWTH RATE OF INDUSTRY AT

CONSTANT (2004-05) PRICES
ong the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was reduced to around 23 per
and the Shiromani Akali Dal-Bharatiya cent, whereas the SAD vote
For the Congress,
it is one of the
Singh too lost. Critics said
another reason for the AAP
Janata Party (SAD-BJP) alliance proved one- share was 25 per cent. The best performances. defeat was its excessive focus
An opportunity
%

2.35 2.73 2.55

sided, with the Congress winning 77 seats of Congress’ got 38 per cent.
the 117 in the Assembly. AAP and its ally, the
Lok Insaaf Party, got 20 seats whereas the summer storm. He came and seats before the
It had expected
“I think he (Kejriwal) is a to win 45-50
on the Malwa region, which
has the maximum (69)
Assembly seats. Though AAP
missed
ruling SAD-BJP managed to get 18. he is gone. The AAP bubble announcement of had fielded candidates in
For the Congress, it is one of the best per- had burst with their outright the polls Majha (25 seats) and Doaba the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
formances. The party had expected to win rejection by the Punjab vot- (23 seats), its leaders mostly in Gujarat this year and
45-50 seats before the announcement of ers,” Singh said in a press conference after campaigned in Malwa. AAP also peaked Karnataka next year, and perhaps
the polls. Its leaders had admitted to a the trends gave the Congress a clear vic- before much before the elections and in the Lok Sabha election in 2019.
tough fight from debutant AAP, which was tory. Singh said he would meet Congress could not re-build its momentum. The Punjab verdict is seen as a
riding high on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Vice-President Rahul Gandhi shortly to “We were hoping to form the govern- setback to AAP in attaining its
Kejriwal’s popularity and a strong anti- discuss the likely members of his cabinet ment in Punjab. We are disappointed pan-Indian political goal.
incumbency sentiment working against and whether former cricketer Navjot Singh with the result,” AAP leader Ashutosh Kejriwal posted a message on
2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
the SAD-BJP government. AAP was expect- Sidhu be made deputy chief minister. He said. AAP, however, is taking solace in his Twitter account, saying, janta
ing to repeat the success of the Lok Sabha reiterated his poll promise of making the fact that it has made a mark on his ka faisla sar maathe pe (I respect
ANNUAL GROWTH RATE OF SERVICES AT elections in Punjab in 2014, when it had Punjab drug-free in the next four weeks. debut and its ignorance would be a polit- the decision of the people). The
CONSTANT (2004-05) PRICES % won four parliamentary seats. It had led in “My other priorities would be health and ical peril in the future. 48-year-old IIT Kharagpur alum-
nus may not have given away the
11.82 measure of his disappointment
8.98 in that social media statement,
7.95 POLL PROMISES but the silence at the AAP head-
quarters in Delhi showed the

War on drugs, farm loan waiver mood in the party.

SANJEEB MUKHERJEE
New Delhi, 11 March
2011-12 2012-13 2013-14
Among the first things that the
Congress’ chief ministerial can-
didate in Punjab, Amarinder
PER CAPITA NSDP AT CURRENT PRICES
(2004-05 BASE) Singh, has promised to do after
he assumes power is to tackle
Punjab India the drug menace by choking the
92,350 supply of such intoxicants in
84,512 four weeks.
76,895 74,380 “Anybody involved in the
67,839
drug scourge will be dealt in
61,855
accordance with law, howsoever
powerful he may be. I have said
within four weeks we will tackle
this drugs problem," Singh told a
crowded press conference in
Chandigarh on Saturday.
The increasing number of
drug-abuse cases has been one
of the poll planks of both the
2011-12 2012-13 2013-14 Congress and Aam Aadmi Party
THE WINNING PROMISES
| To stop drugs supply
within four weeks
| A job for every household
| Waiver of agriculture debt
| Free housing for houseless
Scheduled Castes
(AAP). The parties alleged that
the drug menace and cases of
drug abuse had seen a huge
increase during the Akali regime
under its patronage.
That apart, incidents of sac-
rilege, which hit several parts of
the state, would also be investi-
gated, he said.
Singh said his party had com-
mitted itself to providing good
governance, besides focusing on
| A new law will be
enacted to prohibit
sale and confiscation
of farmers land
| Outsourcing of Mid-Day
Meal Scheme
health and education.
The Congress’ manifesto
included the waiver of farm
loans, a promise the new gov-
ernment will find tough to keep.
According to a Punjab
Agricultural University estimate,
the farm indebtedness in the
state was around ~69,355 crore.
Of the Punjab government’s
2016-17 Budget of ~86,387 crore,
as much as ~5,600 crore was allo-
cated as free power subsidy to
farmers. Free power to farmers
and other sops have created a
debt of ~1.24 lakh crore for the
state government and industrial
activity has slowed significantly.
“A farm debt waiver will
have massive financial impli-
cations, particularly for an
agrarian state like Punjab, and it
will impact financial discipline,
but given that in the last two
years there has been a drought
in North India, the new state
government should consider
such a relief but should keep it
limited to small and marginal
farmers, that is those who own
less than two hectares,” PK
Joshi, South Asia director,
International Food Policy
Research Institute (IFPRI), told
Business Standard.
NIVEDITA MOOKERJI
New Delhi, 11 March
Soon after the Punjab election
results were out, the Congress’
chief ministerial candidate,
Amarinder Singh, said, “I think he
is a summer storm. He came and
he’s gone.” Singh was referring to
Delhi Chief Minister and leader of
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Arvind
Kejriwal. Many expected AAP to
win in Punjab or a very close sec-
ond. The numbers are far from it,
with AAP at 20 against the
Congress’ 77 seats.
With this defeat, the former
Indian Revenue Service officer
may not be “gone’’ yet, but he’s
lost a big chance of coming into
national politics. Poll pundits had
forecast that Kejriwal’s party
would prove to be a challenger to
A late beginner in politics,
Kejriwal cannot afford to lose more
time to emerge in the national
scene. He would do well to strike
the right balance between electoral
politics and good governance, ana-
lysts said. It may not be a bad idea
to keep aside his agitator persona
for a while and focus on policies,
they pointed out. Whether its PM
Narendra Modi or former lieu-
tenant governor of Delhi Najeeb
Jung, Kejriwal has been engaged
in several public spats with promi-
nent personalities.
There’s another view however
that Kejriwal’s aggression, espe-
cially in backing social causes, sets
him apart in the political scene.
AAP’s landslide win in the
February 2015 Delhi elections
showed that. The party won 67 out
of 70 seats two years ago, and
Kejriwal was probably looking for
a similar verdict in Punjab as well.
It didn’t work.

PEOPLE AND POLLS

Evergrey commander A prized catch an opportunist say Sidhu first

Asked about his age before the
2007 Punjab election, Chief
Minister Parkash Singh Badal
curtly replied: “Bhake
dikhawan (Shall I run and show
you)?” He was 79 years old then.
Ten years later, Badal continues
to be the chief ministerial
candidate for the Shiromani
Akali Dal (SAD) and seems to
have no plan for retirement.
Before the announcement
of the 2017 Assembly election,
he termed the current elections
the “last rites for the Congress
party”. The results on Saturday,
PARKASH however, have proved him
SINGH wrong. But, the defeat can’t
BADAL take away the stature he has
SHIROMANI earned in a political career
AKALI DAL
spanning 70 years. He is
credited with being the
youngest and oldest CM in the
country. And, credited for
keeping a check on militancy
The defeat can’t take away
the stature Badal has
earned in a political career
spanning 70 years. He is
credited with being the
youngest and oldest chief
minister in the country
in Punjab.
Badal’s popularity has not
taken a dip among panthic
(Sikh-sect) voters and rural
voters, despite drubbings.
Though he continues to be in
the saddle, he has slowly
passed the baton to his son and
deputy CM, Sukhbir Singh
Badal, a US-educated
management graduate.
Sukhbir was made party
president in 2008. He is
married to Harsimrat Kaur
Badal, the Union Cabinet
minister for food processing,
and the family is known for
their flourishing businesses in
transport, renewable energy,
hospitality and media. Their
exponential rise has not gone
down well with ordinary
people, many accusing them of
corruption.
“I am a born Congressman. I am
back to my roots…this is my
homecoming,” Navjot Singh
Sidhu, the Cricketer-turned-
entertainer-turned politician,
said when he joined the
Congress after a hard
negotiation with the senior party
brass. Sidhu, many say, needed
an assurance from none other
than Congress Vice-President
Rahul Gandhi that he would be
made deputy chief minister if
the party returned to power in
Punjab after a gap of 10 years.
Before joining the Congress, the
NAVJOT SINGH 53-year-old Jat-Sikh leader had
SIDHU quit the Bharatiya Janata Party
CONGRESS (BJP) and resigned from the
Rajya Sabha. Those who call him
tried to test the waters by
warming up with the Aam
Aadmi Party leaders and when
he failed to secure the coveted
post, he suggested of launching
his own political party.
Undoubtedly Sidhu was a
prized catch for the Congress as
he wields a strong influence in
the Amritsar region. He is a
crowd puller and his whacky one
liners such as thoko tali(a round
of applause) were hit among the
voters. Sidhu, who was known for
his six-hitting abilities and
played for India for 15 years,
joined politics in 2004 and was a
member of Parliament for 10
years. He soon fell out with the
BJP brass for openly launching a
tirade against Punjab Chief
Minister Parkash Singh Badal.
But the tipping point came in the
2014 Lok Sabha elections, when
he was asked to give way for
senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley at
his Lok Sabha constituency in
Amritsar. Sidhu, a self-claimed
poet, joined the television
industry full time and enchased
his popularity on The Kapil
Sharma Show.
Earlier in the day when
Congress chief ministerial
candidate Amarinder Singh was
asked whether he would induct
Sidhu as his deputy, the
seasoned politicians deflected
the question by saying that it
was the decision of high-
command. Singh in the past had
traded barbs with Sidhu and
called him a “clown”.
.
MUMBAI | 12 MARCH 2017
VERDICT 7 <

2017

UTTARAKHAND

The rebellion that cost Congress dear

Harish Rawat’s political one-upmanship weakened the party; nine MLAs who left won on BJP tickets

70 Assembly
constituencies

SEATS WON Who did Muslims

„ BJP „ Cong „ Others
11
vote for in UP?
(33.5)
57
A post-poll survey shows 44
(46.5) per cent respondents were
2017 worried about development
2
N SUNDARESHA SUBRAMANIAN
„ Cong „ BJP „ BSP „ Others New Delhi, 11 March
3
(12.19) Mayawati can’t believe it, many political pundits
misread it, but the theory that Muslims don’t vote
31 for BJP or that they vote against it enmasse, which
32 (33.13)
(33.79) was seriously tested in 2014, stands busted with
Saturday’s election results.
2012 BJP leader Ramesh Pokhriyal SHISHIR PRASHANT Rawat tried to highjack the entire Congress MLAs to join BJP, nine Take the case of Deoband. According to the
4 Nishank (second from left) Dehradun, 11 March state Congress unit by adopting of whom scored victories on BJP 2011 census, the city had a Muslim population of
In brackets % vote share
celebrates the party’s victory in various machinations to overthrow tickets this time. Even State 71 per cent. Yet, BJP candidate Brijesh garnered

I
Dehradun f you want to summarise the his political opponents within the Congress President Kishore over 102,000 votes with a lead of nearly 30,000
2017 Uttarakhand Assembly party. The day Vijay Bahuguna Upadhayay was at loggerheads over Bahujan Samaj Party’s Majid Ali.
elections, you can say the became chief minister in 2012, with Rawat throughout the poll Similarly in Aligarh, BJP’s Sanjeev Raja was
POLL PROMISES ruling Congress has been deci- Rawat turned up the heat to unset- campaign. Upadhayay, who lost leading against two Muslim candidates fielded by
mated after last year’s rebellion tle him. He even rebelled against from Sahaspur, has blamed Rawat Samajwadi party and BSP. At the time of writing,
BJP 5. Regularisation of
guest and contract
teachers
centres and health
resorts
by party MLAs. And Chief
Minister Harish Rawat, who was
projected as ‘Bahubali’ in the elec-
Bahuguna and threatened to resign for his defeat as he was not
from the party.
Instead of taking Instead of taking
allowed to contest
from his home con-
Raja had a lead of about 15,000 votes over SP’s
Zafar Alam.
Winning a three-fourths majority in the state
action against
1. Free laptops and
smartphones to all
meritorious students 6. Building boarding
schools for girls in
10. Interest free
loans
to farmers
tions, also fell flat as he lost both
the seats, Kitchha and Haridwar
Rural, that he contested.
action against Rawat,
the party high com- Rawat, the party
mand rewarded him high command
stituency of Tehri.
“I accept that there
must have been loop-
seemed mathematically impossible without rea-
sonable support from a community that forms
about a fifth of the electorate. Yet, BJP had made
all the 13 districts The enormity of BJP’s victory with a cabinet berth rewarded him holes in my leadership its stand clear. It not only did not field any Muslim
with a cabinet
2. Strengthening
health services and
making them available 7. Opening trauma
centres in Garhwal
11. Renewing hydel
projects to boost
power supply
is so huge that it is difficult to say
what went wrong with the
Congress and what helped BJP to
at the Centre. Soon,
Rawat lobbied with berth at the
Congress Vice-presi- Centre
that led to the party’s
dismal performance,”
Rawat said after the
candidate, but even had among its poll promises
the shutting down of “illegal slaughter houses and
mechanised abattoirs.” The community which
to all sections of society and Kumaon regions score an unprecedented win. The dent Rahul Gandhi to humiliating loss. has a significant presence in the meat industry

3. Free education to
all girls up to post 8. Starting air ambu-
lance services in
12. Gairsain to be
declared as
summer capital
anti-incumbency factor was so
strong against the Rawat govern-
ment that the Modi wave
overthrow Bahuguna in 2014. On the other hand, BJP too
The first blow came immedi- faced infighting but it was not
ately after Rawat became the severe. Riding on the Modi wave,
did not seem happy about it.
“Most votes in
Muslim majority
graduation from view of the high road and necessary uprooted the Congress tree chief minister. Satpal Maharaj, a it has gained a three-fourths constituencies THE ISSUES
the economically accident rate in the infrastructure will completely. top leader of Uttarakhand, quit majority in the state Assembly. have gone to BJP. THAT MATTER
weaker section region be developed there Rawat is blamed largely for the the party opposing the high com- Who will be the new chief It makes it evident
2
debacle at the hustings. Top mand’s decision to bring Rawat Minister? This is the million dol- that voting
23
4. Free wi-fi
connectivity to all
universities
9. Boost to medical
tourism by starting
new yoga, ayurvedic
— COMPILED BY
SHISHIR PRASHANT
Congress leaders admitted the
main factor that led to the party’s
downfall was Rawat’s tendency to
in place of Bahuguna. Rawat tor- lar question before the state BJP
mented his opponents by not leaders as the party did not proj-
accepting their political ambi- ect any chief ministerial candi-
machines were
manipulated,”
Mayawati alleged 44 (%)
indulge in one-upmanship. First, tions. His belligerence forced 11 date.The strategy worked. at a press confer-
19
ence soon after the
results became 12
clear. There seem
GOA to be other factors
at work though. „ Prevention of Riots
„ Candidate’s religion

Congress may hit the magic number

BJP says it will await responses from smaller parties; Congress has the independents
SOHINI DAS
Ahmedabad, 11 March
As Goans voted for a fractured man-
date, the situation in this coastal
state remains fluid, with the odds
stacked in favour of the Congress.
With the Congress winning 17 out
of the 40 seats in the Goa Assembly,
the governor is expected to call on
the Goa party chief, Luzinho Faleiro,
to form a government. The BJP, on
the other hand, has won 13 seats,
though, with a higher vote share
than the Congress. The BJP could
neither better its seats tally (it had 21
seats in 2012 Assembly Elections),
nor its vote share (2012 vote share
was 34.68 per cent).
Manohar Parrikar, Union defence
minister and former Goa chief min-
ister who was also the face of BJP in
Goa in the elections, said in a press
conference in Panjim that while his
party accepted the verdict, it would
wait for the responses coming from
smaller parties and even independ-
ent candidates.
As expected, independents and
smaller regional parties like the
Congress candidate Dayanand Raghunath Sopte (centre) celebrates after
defeating BJP leader and Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party
and the Goa Forward Party are like-
ly to play a key role in government
formation, something that Parrikar
himself too hinted at.
The Congress has been smart
enough to have formed pre-poll
understandings with independents
from smaller parties like Atanasio
Monserrate, Francisco Mickky
Pacheco and Vijai Sardesai.
The BJP, on the other hand, had
made tall claims of winning 26 seats
on its own, securing 44 per cent of
the votes polled.
So what exactly went behind the
party’s lacklustre performance in
the election despite Parrikar parking
himself in Goa for months.
Observers feel that while poll planks
like development or a national ‘face’
may work for bigger states, in Goa it
all boils down to individual
candidates.
In BJP’s own words, “Our choice
of candidates might have been
wrong. People have rejected our can-
didates,” said a source in the party.
What’s interesting here is that the
sitting chief minister of Goa,
Laxmikant Parsekar, lost to his one
time confidant, Dayanand Sopte,
from the Mandrem seat. In fact, six
out of eight ministers in the fray lost
elections to their rivals.
“Everyone knows the candidates
personally here, given the small size
of constituencies. They know very
well what work they are doing. Some
ministers had lost the connect with
people and had become arrogant.
The verdict proves it,” said an indus-
trialist in Goa.
The Congress needs just four
more seats (from its allies) to hit
the magic number of 21.
BJP sources sug-
gested that the „ Jobs
women in the „ Roads, water, electricity
community were „ Others
fed up of “triple Source: Crowdnewsing.com
talaq” and had vot-
ed for the party banking on its promise to end the
practice. Some community leaders had subscribed
to this idea. “It is quite likely that Muslims have
voted for BJP. Considering the fact that they took
the stand for Muslim women rights, I won’t be
surprised if some sections have shown favour with
the party,” Shaista Amber, president All India
Muslim Women Personal Law Board, was quoted
40 Assembly
constituencies
saying on Saturday.
“The idea of so-called Muslim vote stands bust-
ed,” said Bilal Zaidi, former television journalist
founder of portal crowdnewsing.com. A 10-city
SEATS WON survey conducted by CrowdNewsing showed the
muslim voter was anything but strategic in the
„ BJP „ Cong „ MGP „ Others three-way contest between the BJP, BSP and the
3 SP-Congress alliance.
(11.3) According to this survey, 55 per cent of the
17
(28.4) respondents voted for the Congress-SP alliance,
36 per cent for BSP and the remaining for small-
13 er parties. BJP bagged just 2 per cent of the
(32.5)
7 Muslim vote.
2017 Zaidi admits the sample size of his survey
was small, but it is the best anyone has got at this
„ BJP „ Cong „ MGP „ Others point. He says there was no evidence yet that
3 Muslims had voted for BJP. He feels the
(6.72) “vote against triple-talaq” is a nice rhetoric, but
9
21 (30.78) based on his survey only about two per cent of
(34.68) the Muslim respondents were worried about it.
About 44 per cent of the voters were keen
7 on power, roads and other such develop
2012 ment issues.
In brackets % vote share

MANIPUR
Cong within striking distance After her dismal showing,
Sharmila announced that she would
quit politics but continue her fight
against the controversial AFSPA in
BJP makes inroads into the state with 21 seats the state.
The Naga Peoples Front (NPF)
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA and the National People's Party
The Congress and the BJP each
claimed that they would form the
government with the support of
like-minded parties.
Manipur Congress chief T N
Haokip told PTI, “We are confident
that we will form the next govern-

60 Assembly
constituencies
Imphal, 11 March

Manipur today threw up a hung

(NPP) bagged four seats each. The
Lokjanshakti Party and an
Independent candidate won one
ment in Manipur. We are already in
talks with like-minded secular and
regional parties.”
SEATS WON Assembly with the ruling Congress seat each. In the 2012 assembly poll State BJP president K
bagging 28 of the 60 seats and the too LJP had won a seat. The Bhabananda Singh also exuded
„ Cong „ BJP „ NPF „ Others „ Cong „ TMC „ MSCP „ Others BJP making giant strides to Trinamool Congress bagged one confidence of forming the govern-
4 5 muster 21. seat. The party had won seven seats ment in the state.
21 (7.2) (8.39) The Congress had won 42 seats in the previous assembly polls. “We are confident of forming the
42 7 in the 2012 Assembly. The BJP, on The Nationalist Congress Party next government in Manipur,”
(36.3) (42.42)
28 (17) the other hand, had no members in which had bagged a seat in the he said.
(35.1) the outgoing House. previous assembly election, drew a The BJP’s voteshare of 36 per
Human rights activist Irom blank this time. cent is higher than the 34.7 per cent
2017 2012 Sharmila, who contested against Ibobi Singh romped home from secured by the Congress.Prominent
7 6 Chief Minister Ibobi Singh, could Thoubal constituency defeating his Congress candidates who won
*Naga Peoples Front is part of NDA, while National People's Party had a pre-poll alliance In brackets % vote share secure only 90 votes and was rele- nearest BJP rival L Basanta Singh included Md Abdul Naser and K After her dismal showing, Irom Sharmila announced that she
gated to the fourth position. by 10,400 votes. Jaikishen Singh. would quit politics
8 GALLERY
> VERDICT MUMBAI | 12 MARCH 2017 1
2017 PHOTOS: PTI

THE DAY IN PICTURES

Election results meant a burst of celebration for some and silent mourning for others

SRINAGAR: Bharatiya Janata Party workers dance as they GUWAHATI: Party workers in Assam, too, celebrated the KOLKATA: Though BJP lost the West Bengal Assembly polls KOCHI: Kerala was another state where BJP could not
celebrate the Assembly polls results party’s victory in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand last year, party workers drench themselves in the ‘Modi wave’ make a mark during the 2016 Assembly elections

A
s the day progressed, celebrations broke out even in
cities and states not directly affected by the poll results.
The Bharatiya Janata Party enhanced its political capital
with the landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh, one of the country's
most complex and crucial states. BJP's victory in UP, a state
with a population of 204 million people, and Uttarakhand
is being read as a vote of confidence for Prime Minister Narendra
Modi despite his controversial move to invalidate 86 per cent of
India’s currency.
The Opposition parties stood decimated, though the
Congress decisively reclaimed ground in Punjab. The picture for
Goa and Manipur was unclear till the end of the day, with no
majority for any of the competing parties. This has been a closely
tracked election, not just in India, but also globally because of
the “wave” associated with Modi. A photo essay looks at the
events of the day of reckoning.

CHANDIGARH: Punjab’s chief-ministerial candidate

Amarinder Singh shares his victory with his family. The
Congress’s win in Punjab has been credited to Singh’s
strong presence in the state

(Above) Chief Election

Commissioner Nasim
Zaidi kept track of the
vote counting process
through
telecommunicating with
158 centres across five
states;
(Left) Celebrations for
BJP workers in Lucknow
began early in the
morning, soon after
trends were in favour of
the party

(Above) Congress had reasons

to cheer in Goa as well as it
went neck-and-neck with BJP.
Seen here is Nilakanth
Ramnath Halarankar with
party supporters celebrating
his win in Panaji;
(Right) The Modi masks, which
made a debut during the Lok
Sabha elections in 2014, seem
to be a favourite mode of
showing support for the
prime minister

(From top) While celebrations broke out at BJP’s offices across the country, the People watching Assembly election results on a giant screen fixed at a
headquarters of other leading political parties remained deserted. Offices of the Bahujan mobile van outside the Vidhan Sabha. This was one of the
Samaj Party and Congress in Lucknow and the Aam Aadmi Party in New Delhi were most-anticipated elections, especially for Uttar Pradesh
shrouded in resounding silence
.
MUMBAI | 12 MARCH 2017 WORLD 9 <

IN BRIEF

Starbucks: Boycottthreats over

Bharara, Wall Street’s cop, among Block Uber’s
self-driving
car project,
refugee hiring hasn'thurtbrand
Starbucks said its business has not been hurt by a social media boycott
campaign started in response to the chain's promise to hire 10,000
46 US attorneys asked to resign Waymo asks
federal court
refugees globally over the next five years. Starbucks made its January 29 His exit would disrupt prominent fraud and corruption investigations
refugee hiring announcement on the heels of President Donald DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI
Trump's first executive order that temporarily banned travel from seven GREG FARRELL, CHRISTIAN Bank AG’s handling of “mirror San Francisco, 11 March
mostly Muslim nations. The move angered some Trump supporters, BERTHELSEN & MARGARET TALEV trades” that helped Russian
who called on other customers to stop frequenting the coffee chain. 11 March clients convert rubles into Waymo, the self-driving car
Matt Ryan, Starbucks' chief strategy officer, said results from a YouGov Western currency, a high-pro- business spun out of Google’s

BrandIndex survey suggesting that the boycott had dented the brand,
"do not reflect the customer satisfaction and perception trends we are
seeing so far in 2017."
Tepco marks quake,
tsunami anniversary
with silence
TokyoElectricPowerCompany
broadcastliveonitswebsitea
memorialofthemagnitude9
earthquakeandresulting
tsunamithatdevastated
northernJapansixyearsagoand
wreckeditsFukushimareactorin
oneoftheworstatomicdisasters
inhistory.CompanyPresident
NaomiHirosebowedhisheadfor
amomentofsilenceat2.46pm,
thetimethedisasterstruck,
beforeagroupofabout700
employeesgatheredatthe
company'snewadministration
buildingthatopenedlastyearon
thesiteofitscrippledpower
stationinFukushima.Hirose
apologisedtothepeopleaffected
bytheaccidentandpraisedhis
stafffortheprogressmadeinthe
lastyear.
BLOOMBERG<
Nestle, Cargill win
dismissal of ex-child
slaves' lawsuit
NestleSA'sUSunitandCargillwon
dismissalofalawsuitbysixformer
childslavesfromMaliwhosought
toholdthecocoaimportersliable
fortheircaptivityand
mistreatmentonfarmsin
neighbouringIvoryCoast.ALos
Angelesfederaljudgeagreedwith
thecompaniesthattheformer
labourerscouldn'tsueintheUS
overwrongdoingthatoccurredin
Africaandthattheformerchild
slaveshadfailedtoshowthatany
domesticconductbythetwo
companieswaslinkedtotheuse
offorcedlabourattheiroverseas
suppliers. BLOOMBERG<
REUTERS
HSBC close to
naming AIA's Mark
Tucker as chairman
HSBCHoldingshasmade
insuranceexecutiveMarkTucker
thepreferredcandidatetobe
chairman,replacingDouglas
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Europe’slargestbanktakesthe
firststeptooverhaulitstop
managementteam.Tucker,59,
chiefexecutiveofficerofAIAGroup
andformerheadofPrudential,is
indiscussionswiththebank,
accordingtothepeoplewho
askednottobeidentifiedbecause
thesuccessionprocessisprivate.
Flint,61,isexpectedtostepdown
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chairmanand21yearsatthe
bank.HSBChassaidthenew
chairmanwillstartasearchfora
successortoChiefExecutiveOfficer
StuartGulliver.
BLOOMBERG<
Opponents of
S Korea's ousted Park
call for her arrest
OpponentsofSouthKorea's
oustedleader,ParkGeun-hye
ralliedinthecapital,Seoul,on
Saturdaytodemandthatshebe
arrested,adayaftershewas
thrownoutofofficeovera
corruptionscandalinvolvingthe
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all Street enforcer file securities fraud case against parent company last year,
Preet Bharara may be Valeant Pharmaceuticals has asked a federal court to
forced out as the US International and political cor- block Uber’s work on a com-
attorney in Manhattan despite ruption cases involving New peting self-driving vehicle
assurances he said he had York Mayor Bill de Blasio and that Waymo claimed could
received from the incoming aides to New York Governor be using stolen technology.
Trump administration that he Andrew Cuomo. Waymo also filed testi-
would remain in the job. Bharara had been heralded mony from employees and a
Attorney General Jeff by Republicans and Democrats Google security engineer
Sessions abruptly asked for the for aggressively prosecuting describing how Anthony
resignations of 46 US attorneys, corruption in Albany. One of Levandowski, a former
all those remaining who had the reasons he may have been Google executive, discussed
served under former President asked to stay was because of Uber’s interest in the tech-
Barack Obama. Although most his pursuit of several political nology and systematically
of the holdovers were expected corruption cases of Democratic stole proprietary company
to leave at some point, Bharara state officials. documents. In February
said shortly after meeting with While incoming presidents 2016, Levandowski left to
Sessions and President-elect have changed out US attorneys start his own self-driving
Donald Trump last November before — most notably Bill truck company, Otto. He sold
that he was asked to stay on in Clinton — the latest purge it to Uber for $680 million six
the new administration and comes in a politically charged months later.
had agreed to do so. Preet Bharara REUTERS atmosphere as Democrats call Waymo sued Uber last
A Justice Department state- for a special counsel to look month, accusing the ride-
ment on the request for resig- the resignations of Dana into the Trump camp’s rela- hailing company of collud-
nations didn’t address whether Boente, a US prosecutor in tionships with Russia during ing with Levandowski to
all would be accepted or some Virginia who’s currently acting Focus on currencies as G-20 the presidential campaign. steal crucial parts of
held for later use, allowing for deputy attorney general, and
continuity on important inves- Rod Rosenstein of Maryland,
girds for Trump era Sessions, who has recused
himself from the Russia mat-
Waymo’s technology to
accelerate its development
tigations. After a similar request Trump’s pick to become deputy ter, on Thursday told a conser- of autonomous vehicles.
to State Department political attorney general, Justice US Treasury Secretary Steven key points such as global vative radio host that he was Gary Brown, Google’s
appointees, the resignations Department spokesman Peter Mnuchin plans to use his trade rules and their collision open to naming a special coun- security engineer specialis-
were accepted immediately. Carr said in email. debut at a Group of 20 with President Donald sel to look into the Justice ing in forensics, said in a par-
Sessions’ request for resig- meeting in Germany next Trump’s “America First” Department under Obama. tially redacted declaration
nations didn’t specify exit Pending probes week to drive home the stance, the people said. Later in the day, Sean Hannity that Levandowski searched
dates. The US attorney in It’s unclear whether Bharara message that the US won’t A mainstay of G-20 of Fox News called for the Google’s network in
Brooklyn, Robert Capers, and might be asked to complete tolerate countries that statements in recent years, Justice Department to be swept December 2015 for login
Paul Fishman of New Jersey some of his cases before leaving engage in currency the pledge to refrain from of Obama holdovers. “It’s time details to a document repos-
said in separate statements that office. A Justice Department devaluation to gain an edge using monetary policy to for the Trump administration itory for “Chauffeur,” the
they had been told to resign spokeswoman said the request in trade, according to people cheapen currencies takes on to purge these saboteurs before internal code name for the
effective Friday. for resignations applied to “all familiar with the matter. new relevance amid US it’s too late,” Hannity said. driverless car project.
The Senate’s top Democrat, Senate-confirmed US attor- The message, which will claims that China, Germany Senator Dianne Feinstein, Levandowski then
Chuck Schumer of New York, neys.” An administration offi- borrow from the G-20 and others are doing just Democrat of California and a installed special software
said the attorney general’s cial who spoke on the condi- consensus view hammered that. While other members member of the Judiciary that allowed him to access
move to purge US prosecutors tion of anonymity said all US out with the previous US plan to stick to the informal Committee, said she was sur- that repository and proceed-
would interrupt investigations attorneys were being asked to administration, will be economic rule book that the prised by the Sessions’ request. ed to download over 14,000
and hinder the department’s submit resignations and that Mnuchin’s focus as he has G-20 writes, the US appears “Under previous administra- files, or about 9.7 gigabytes of
work. “While it’s true that pres- they were all expected to be few political staffers to poised to challenge the tions, orderly transitions data, according to the decla-
idents from both parties made accepted. develop detailed positions on consensus that it’s based on. allowed US attorneys to leave ration. A few days later,
their own choices for US attor- “Until the new US attorneys gradually as their replacements Levandowski attached a
ney positions across the coun- are confirmed, the dedicated were chosen,” Feinstein said in memory card to his laptop
try, they have always done so in career prosecutors in our US a statement. “This was done to for eight hours, Brown said.
an orderly fashion that doesn’t attorney’s offices will continue Flores said in a statement. and difficult Justice protect the independence of Levandowski, along with
put ongoing investigations at the great work of the depart- If Bharara submits his res- Department investigations our prosecutors and avoid dis- former Google employees
risk,” he said in a statement. ment,” Justice Department ignation and it’s accepted, could be disrupted. They rupting ongoing federal cases.” Sameer Kshirsagar and Radu
Trump declined to accept spokeswoman Sarah Isgur some of the most prominent include inquiries into Deutsche BLOOMBERG Raduta, gained access to a
Google Drive folder contain-
ing company files and export-
ed documents about suppli-

UN says world faces the largest US regulators reject ers to a personal device,
according to the declaration.
Soon after, they left the com-

Bitcoin ETF
pany for Otto, Brown said in

humanitarian crisis since 1945

EDITH M LEDERER
United Nations, 11 March
The world faces the largest
humanitarian crisis since the
United Nations was founded in
1945 with more than 20 million
people in four countries facing
starvation and famine, the UN
humanitarian chief has said.
Stephen O’Brien told the
UN Security Council that
“without collective and coor-
dinated global efforts, people
will simply starve to death” and
“many more will suffer and die
from disease”.
He urged an immediate
injection of funds for Yemen,
South Sudan, Somalia and
northeast Nigeria plus safe
and unimpeded access for
humanitarian aid “to avert a
catastrophe”. “To be precise,”
O’Brien said, “we need $4.4
billion by July.”
Without a major infusion
of money, he said, children
will be stunted by severe mal-
nutrition and won’t be able to
go to school, gains in eco-
nomic development will be
reversed and “livelihoods,
futures and hope will be lost.”
UN and food organisations
define famine as when more
than 30 per cent of children
in the past two months.
The UN humanitarian chief
also visited South Sudan, the
world’s newest nation which
has been ravaged by a three-
year civil war, and said “the sit-
uation is worse than it has ever
been.” O’Brien said more than
7.5 million people need aid,
up by 1.4 million from last
year, and about 3.4 million
South Sudanese are displaced
by fighting including almost
200,000 who have fled the
country since January.
“More than one million
children are estimated to be
acutely malnourished across
the country, including 270,000
children who face the immi-
nent risk of death should they
not be reached in time with
assistance,” he said.
In Somalia, which O’Brien
also visited, more than half
the population — 6.2 million
Women take part in a protest outside the UN office in Sanaa, Yemen REUTERS people — need humanitarian
assistance and protection,
under age 5 suffer from acute Nations,” O’Brien said. “Now, seven million people are hun- including 2.9 million who are
malnutrition and mortality more than 20 million people gry and don’t know where at risk of famine and require
rates are two or more deaths across four countries face star- their next meal will come from. immediate help “to save or
per 10,000 people every day, vation and famine.” “That is three million people sustain their lives.”
among other criteria. O’Brien said the largest more than in January,” he said. He warned that close to
“Already at the beginning humanitarian crisis is in The Arab world’s poorest one million children under
of the year we are facing the Yemen where two-thirds of the nation is engulfed in conflict the age of five will be “acutely
largest humanitarian crisis population — 18.8 million peo- and O’Brien said more than malnourished” this year.
since the creation of the United ple — need aid and more than 48,000 people fled fighting just BLOOMBERG
TREVOR HUNNICUTT &
GERTRUDE CHAVEZ-DREYFUSS
New York, 11 March
The US Securities and
Exchange Commission denied
a request to list what would
have been the first US
exchange-traded fund built to
track bitcoin, the digital cur-
rency. Investors Cameron and
Tyler Winklevoss have been
trying for more than three
years to convince the SEC to
let it bring the Bitcoin ETF to
market. CBOE Holdings’s Bats
exchange had applied to list
the ETF.
The digital currency’s price
plunged, falling as much as 18
per cent in trading immedi-
ately after the decision before
rebounding slightly. It last
traded down 7.8 per cent to
$1,098. Bitcoin had scaled to a
record of nearly $1,300 this
month, higher than the price
of an ounce of gold, as
investors speculated that an
ETF holding the digital cur-
rency could woo more people
into buying the asset.
Bitcoin is a virtual curren-
cy that can be used to move
money around the world
quickly and with relative
anonymity, without the need
for a central authority, such
as a bank or government.
Yet bitcoin presents a new
set of risks to investors given
its limited adoption, a num-
ber of massive cybersecurity
breaches affecting bitcoin
owners and the lack of consis-
tent treatment of the assets by
governments. “Based on the
record before it, the
Commission believes that the
significant markets for bitcoin
are unregulated,” the SEC said
in a statement. “The commis-
sion notes that bitcoin is still in
the relatively early stages of its
development and that, over
time, regulated bitcoin-relat-
ed markets of significant size
may develop.”
The regulators have ques-
tions and concerns about how
the funds would work and
whether they could be priced
and trade effectively, accord-
ing to a financial industry
source familiar with the SEC’s
thinking. “We began this jour-
ney almost four years ago, and
are determined to see it
through,” said Tyler
Winklevoss, CFO of Digital
Asset Services LLC. “We agree
with the SEC that regulation
and oversight are important to
the health of any marketplace
and the safety of all investors.”
REUTERS
his testimony. Waymo asked
the federal court here for a
preliminary injunction
against Otto and Uber. A hear-
ing for the injunction motion
is scheduled for April 27.
Waymo said in its initial
lawsuit that it was inadver-
tently copied on an email
from a supplier with blue-
prints of Uber’s circuit board
design for its lidar technolo-
gy, or light detection and
ranging sensors, used in self-
driving cars. Waymo said
Uber’s designs bore “a strik-
ing resemblance” to its secret
designs. In another partially
redacted declaration filed
with the court, Pierre-Yves
Droz, a hardware engineer at
Waymo, said Levandowski,
while still with Google, told
him that he wanted long-
range lidar for his start-up
and that he wanted to “repli-
cate” Waymo’s technology.
Droz said this did not sur-
prise him because
Levandowski had told him
earlier that he wanted to start
a self-driving car company
and that Uber would be inter-
ested in “buying the team”
responsible for the lidar
being developed at Google.
Levandowski, Kshirsagar
and Raduta could not be
reached for comment.
©2017 The New York Times News
Service

Here’s why it just got easier for Indian aspirants to apply to Harvard Law
SHAHIEN NASIRIPOUR
11 March
Demand for American law school
degrees has fallen off a cliff. Harvard
Law School, which counts more
than half of the current US Supreme
Court and Barack Obama as alumni,
is no exception. The school’s
Wednesday announcement that it
will begin to accept the Graduate
Record Examination (GRE) over the
Law School Admission Test (LSAT)
from applicants starting this
autumn appears to be a bet that
Chinese engineers and Indian sci-
entists can help reverse a double-
digit decline in applications.
Harvard said it made the deci-
sion after determining that its stu-
dents’ GRE scores were an “equally
valid predictor” of first-year grades
as the LSAT. Experts said that
Harvard’s weight in the legal world
means it’s likely that other schools,
too, will soon accept the GRE.
Harvard’s decision reflects an
unfortunate reality confronting
the legal profession: fewer
Americans want to become
lawyers; the ones that do are enter-
ing school with worse credentials
than students before them; and the
people and organisations that end
up employing lawyers are paying
them less.
The number of annual LSAT
takers in the US, a reliable proxy for
law school applications, has fallen
35 per cent over the past five years,
Law School Admission Council data
show. Applications to Harvard Law
alone are down 14 per cent.
Schools have responded by low-
ering their standards and admitting
more students. At the five highest-
ranked schools, admission offers
are up 7 per cent, the data indicate.
Nationally, according to data col-
lected by Kyle McEntee, the execu-
tive director of Law School
Transparency, about 80 per cent of
applicants are admitted to at least
one law school, up from about 56
per cent a dozen years ago.
High tuition — and the resulting
six-figure debt loads that pile up —
has made students think twice
about pursuing legal education,
said McEntee. At those same five
schools, for example, fewer admit-
ted students enrolled this year than
five years earlier. Federal data show
that the typical lawyer’s wages has
fallen 3.5 per cent over the last
decade, after adjusting for inflation.
Allowing prospective students
to submit GRE scores “is just a way
for schools to expand the number
of qualified students they can
admit,” McEntee said. Indeed,
while demand for the LSAT has
dropped considerably, the number accredits law schools, is set to
of general GRE exams taken has debate this weekend whether all
jumped 38 per cent since 2006, to law schools can allow aspiring
more than 703,000 worldwide, applications to submit results from
according to Educational Testing exams other than the LSAT.
Service, the exam’s administrator. Martha Minow, Harvard Law’s
India and China, with more than dean, said her school wants to
143,000 test takers between them, reach more prospective students
were responsible for nearly twice from abroad. She also wants more
as many GRE takers last year as the students with science, technology,
rest of the world combined, after and engineering backgrounds, she
excluding the US. added, because of society’s larger
College graduates debating needs for those kinds of expertise.
whether to pursue a legal education In China, 55 per cent of GRE takers
or a master’s programme in anoth- said they intended to enroll in
er field may be enticed to apply for physical sciences, engineering or
law school, since they’d only have to life-science programmes. Among
take one exam, McEntee added. test takers in India, that figure was
The fact that the GRE can be taken 67 per cent. In deciding to accept
almost any day, whereas the LSAT is The law school has decided to start accepting GRE over LSAT from the GRE, Harvard may expect its
offered only four times a year, applicants from this autumn BLOOMBERG future crop of successful alumni
should help, too. may be more likely to come from
Harvard Law joins the as one of just two in the country announcement comes as the India and China than the US.
University of Arizona’s law school that accept the GRE. The American Bar Association, which BLOOMBERG
10 DEMOCRACY AT WORK
>
MUMBAI | 12 MARCH 2017 1

DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT? CHECKLIST

CHATTERBOX

Too few joint rallies by Priyanka and Dimple?

Now that the elections are over it can be asked: Why weren’t there more joint rallies UTTAR PRADESH: QUOTABLE QUOTES FROM THE CAMPAIGN THAT WAS
by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Dimple Yadav? The Congress and the Samajwadi Party
(SP) were, after all, in alliance in Uttar Pradesh and the two women could have rep- Narendra Modi: “Being raised in a poor not yield desirable results. Then there was a roadshow
resented a progressive women-power show in many more constituencies than they family, I am aware of the hardships the poor yesterday, it too did not result in anything positive. I
showed up in. The spoiler was the presence of Jaya Bachchan. It was Amitabh face. We would take every step that uplifts them. heard that today Modiji is walking on foot.”
Bachchan, who gave Priyanka away at her wedding despite some distance between I have a dream of doubling farmer incomes by Akhilesh Yadav: “Who will believe such a leader
the families even then. But now, the actor is the brand ambassador for Gujarat and 2022. We have brought the Soil Health Card. We who created her own statues across the state?...
the prime minister’s Swachh Bharat campaign and his wife is an SP member of are training our farmers using scientific farming Beware of my bua (aunt), she could join hands with
Parliament. The Gandhi family probably prefers to keep a distance from mercurial methods. The UP government is anti-farmer. the BJP at any time. Buaji says she would prefer to sit
political figures. It was Rajiv Gandhi who brought Amitabh Bachchan to politics. Why is it that farmers don’t benefit from the in the Opposition rather than join hands with the
Fasal Bima Yojana? Why do they don’t help BJP. Don’t forget: She celebrated Rakshabandhan
Bid to remove TN Assembly Speaker is fresh trouble for Palaniswami govt farmers in distress? We want poor households to with the BJP once and she can do it again.”
The Tamil Nadu Assembly is seeing a fresh move to remove the Speaker, and with the ver- have access to clean fuel. We aim to provide five
crore families with LPG connections in 3 years.” Mayawati: “In 1989 Lok Sabha elections, when
tical split in the AIADMK, it could have unpredictable consequences. P Dhanapal was put in Congress lost power and I was elected to Lok Sabha, V P
place by J Jayalalithaa. According to the faction headed by O Panneerselvam, he is a “traitor Rahul Gandhi: “I told Akhilesh that we must Singh became the PM. He said BSP should also support
to Jayalalithaa’s memory”. Opposition party DMK, which had given a notice to remove the extend some help to Modiji. Let’s give him some us. I told him my two conditions. First, B R Ambedkar
Speaker, has been told that its earlier notice was not in proper format. It has since given a sec- Our brain usually, you see, has the ability time... some moments of peace. You (Akhilesh)
to create common sense. In the Chinese be awarded the Bharat Ratna posthumously and
ond notice. If the Panneerselvam faction, the DMK and other parties get together, they have hardliners, that part of the brain, is become the chief minister, and he (Modi) would get second, adopt the Mandal Commission report. The BJP
a slight chance of unseating Dhanapal. This will be raised in the Assembly session that begins missing. some rest… Repeated retakes of Modiji’s film are then staged mass protests against B R Ambedkar’s
on March 16, the day Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami presents his Budget. If the Tibetan leader Dalai Lama, in an interview, in Dharamsala on taking place. In four days, there have been four Bharat Ratna and against reservations for backward
Speaker is removed it will be an embarrassment to the Palaniswami government. March 6 retakes… two days ago there was a roadshow, it did classes. I don’t think UP will vote for such a party.”

DALIP KUMAR

OPINION
PRANAB MUKHERJEE

The onus is on
higher education
In your tenure, have there been was used for the first time.
instances where you have had to
tell the government multiple What more needs to be done
times — don’t do this? on seizures?
To begin with, let me congratulate the winners of Visitor’s Awards, It varies from situation to situation. We will continue to apply enforce-
2017 — Jawaharlal Nehru University, which has been adjudged the Sometimes you people get to know. ment mechanisms stringently,
best university; and the scientists from the Central University of Sometimes, you don’t get to know. It which involves income tax authori-
Himachal Pradesh, Banaras Hindu University and Tezpur keeps happening. By and large, as ties, narcotics, etc relating to expen-
University, who have been awarded in the categories of innovation the data tells us, the governments diture control. This time, seizures
and research. The honours conferred today lend due credence to pay serious attention. amounting to ~350 crore has been
their single-minded devotion and painstaking work in the pursuit on account of our strict enforcement.
of excellence. The recognition should, on the one hand, inspire So you’ve never had the prime Wherever individual induce-
them to higher levels of performance, and on the other, spur minister call you and say “arre, ments come up — “gifts” like saris,
researchers and scientists in the central university system to aapne kya kar diya (what have you cycles, utensils, newspapers with
explore wider domains of human understanding. done)”? slips etc — the existing law is applied.
A lot has been said about the quality of India’s higher education The commission stands on a totally But the problem is that bribery is a
system. Many have debated that standards are declining as a corol- independent and autonomous foot- non-cognisable offence. We can see
lary of the vast expansion seen over the past few years. Yet, many have ing. No one has ever called me. To be that the person is bribing. But you
argued that increasing our capacity to provide higher education is a fair, no one has ever called me. cannot arrest him. So he bribes and
dire need in the context of a growing youth population. There are over We have said that there should be goes away with a big smile saying,
250 million young people in the age group of 15-24 years. The onus is a screening committee headed by “okay, I will face action in due course
on the higher education system to realise their aspirations and per- the cabinet secretary. Before the of time”. So we feel handicapped —
fect their scholastic potential. I, for one, do not see any dichotomy
between greater access and better quality; or between higher equity
and superior standards. It is entirely possible for the attributes of quan-
tity and quality to move in the same direction at the same time.
The concept of “world-class” institutions have engaged the minds
‘We need to have matter comes to the EC, the com-
mittee itself should take a view
whether it really needs to be referred
to us.
We have also said that matters,
because there is no immediate deter-
rence. We have moved to make
bribery a cognisable offence. If we
catch somebody giving cash, liquor
or anything else to voters to vote in a

immediate deterrence’
of policymakers, educators and academic experts lately. The jury is which are going to the Cabinet for particular way, the person is arrested
out on what elements a world-class institution constitutes. Whether clearance during an election, must on the spot.
some features of such institutions can be specific to the context of a be referred to us. I have taken the matter up with the
region or an economy. But, presence of certain key traits is essential We are also asking that there Ministry of Home Affairs, which has
to label any institution world-class. Let me outline a few of them: should be a nodal officer in the min- told us that this proposal is proposed to
(a) A sizeable presence of meritorious students and faculty: This Chief Election Commissioner NASIM ZAIDI tells Aditi Phadnis bribery should be made a cognisable offence so that istries, who should review decisions be made cognisable. It is part of a Bill
does not happen all of a sudden as institutions have to attain a cer- those trying to influence elections through “gifts” are jailed as soon as they are caught. in the context of the code of con- under circulation to chief secretaries.
tain degree of maturity before it starts gathering a pool of talent- duct before referring those to us.
ed people. Many of our institutions of recent vintage may face The government has enormous matter pertaining to developments Our code of conduct: Matters are If matters pertain to the Cabinet What is your view of simultaneous
problems in the beginning on this account. But policy catalysts power in the implementation — in the Centre or state are referred to referred by the government to the we correspond with the cabinet polls?
may help. Under the Global Initiative of Academic Networks pro- and circumvention — of the Model them. Actually, implementation of commission before they undertake secretary most of the time. But The Commission has heard nothing
gramme, about 780 foreign faculty experts have enrolled to teach Code of Conduct (MCC). This the MCC is the responsibility of the certain activities and announce- no ministers or anyone else is formally.
in Indian institutions. We are also witnessing a favourable eco- election has seen the Election cabinet secretary. ments. We received something like involved in this process. Our entire
nomic climate pulling Indians working abroad, back to their Commission writing several times Against this background, the 187 references from the government correspondence is with the Is it feasible?
motherland to seek the opportunities emerging here. Our insti- to the government on the alleged or issue of budget-making was natural- and 99 of these, we cleared in permanent bureaucracy. Some logistical support, etc is
tutions would do well to leverage this “brain rain”. apprehended violation of MCC. I ly referred to the cabinet secretary to 48 hours. required. But before that, the
(b) Adequacy of financial resources to boost physical infrastructure would not say confrontation, but respond to complaints received by But there were certain cases How do you look back at your Constitution has to be amended.
and academic resources: Institutions have to look beyond govern- the EC has questioned many of the us. All further clarifications were also where the commission was not given tenure? And the Commission has heard
ment funding to innovative mechanisms like industrial projects, government’s decisions — on the referred to the cabinet secretary. I sufficient time to study and dispose There are a whole set of new inter- nothing in this regard.
sponsorship of chairs, and tie-ups for setting up research facilities. timing of the Budget, on Cabinet must say the cabinet sec- of them. That is why the ventions. Voter-centric initiatives,
(c) A governance model that allows institutions to respond quickly to announcements. retary continued to fur- communication to the new IT initiatives for election man- What is your view on the Budget
change while enforcing a mechanism of critical analysis and honest The code of conduct is an instru- nish replies in time. cabinet secretary that if agement (75,000 permissions cover- proposals on electoral funding,
reflection: Such a system requires strong institutional leaders who ment that political parties have the government refers the ing a variety of activities both by especially measures relating to
can enlist the cooperation and commitment of all in driving the vision agreed on and have handed over to On one occasion he matter to the commission individuals and political parties were anonymous funding of
of the institution. It also calls for building a cadre of academic leaders, the commission for execution. It has didn’t furnish replies and gives us 48 hours, we issued online), online public griev- political parties?
NASIM ZAIDI
who can inspire followership amongst students and fellow educators. also been validated by the Supreme in time and you wrote will clear them at the ance and complaints (around The measures in the Finance Bill
Chief election
Drafting alumni and industry experts in governance structures, too, can Court. MCC ensures that the party to him saying, “don’t fastest possible speed. 40,000) were also cleared are based on our recommendations.
commissioner
bring in a fresh perspective to the academic environment. in power is not able to utilise expect EC to clear There were a couple of electronically. We had made several recommen-
(d) An ecosystem that supports research and innovation: A challenge resources to its advantage in the elec- proposals if they come non-adherances — three Use of Voter Verified Paper Audit dations and these are the ones that
for our institutions has been to retain bright students after education tion process and to that extent, at the 11th hour”. or four matters which the commis- Trail (VVPAT) with electronic voter have been accepted. It is a good
to do research. Good students either leave formal education to enter ensures a level playing field. That is one particular issue. In sub- sion considered and told the govern- machines has expanded. Here the beginning. It will lead to greater
the corporate, government and other sectors, or pursue a higher degree There are occasions when such sequent communications, they gave ment that this should not have hap- voter gets to see the slip recording his transparency. From ~20,000 cash
in universities abroad. To arrest this trend, we need to make holistic instances are brought to our knowl- responses within the time limit. And pened. But the majority of them were vote. We have used VVPAT in 112 contributions, now the limit for
changes in our education system. The pedagogy in our institutions at edge — either suo moto or by way of the matter ended on a good note cleared. This also shows the govern- constituencies in 51,875 booths in cash contributions has been
all levels has to promote creative thinking, novel learning and scien- complaint. One matter you have when they said they won’t provide ment pays serious attention to the these elections. That said, I must reduced to ~2,000. This is also wel-
tific scrutiny. An atmosphere where learning modules are supple- referred to was also brought to us. promises or assurances or any commission’s framework of code emphasise that our electronic vot- come. The ultimate goal is to
mented by enquiry-based project work will be necessary. This will build This is one part. The cabinet sec- schemes relating specifically to the of conduct. ing machines are completely tamp- become cashless. The other pro-
in students an inclination to do research and to innovate. If we have a retary in the central government and poll-bound state. They committed Overall, the code of conduct is er-proof. posal is electoral bonds. It is part of
large pool of meritorious researchers — complemented by top-notch the chief secretary in the state gov- and it did not happen. To that extent, taken seriously and followed. I think For services voters, electronic the Finance Bill; we don’t know the
research laboratories, tie-ups with industry, collaborations with foreign ernment are our nodal points. Any it ended on a good note. this summarises the issue. transmission of postal ballots details yet.
institutions and an attractive compensation system — our institutions
could be involved in doing more cutting-edge research.
Areas for research activity should align with the develop-

By-poll test could decide Congress fate in 2018

mental challenges of our nation. The best minds in our universi-
ties should apply themselves to work out solutions in areas like
sanitation, urban transportation, sewage disposal, clean river
systems, health care and drought-resistant farming. They should
also convert new knowledge into innovative products that are
directly beneficial to the common population. Innovative minds
The Siddaramaiah government in the state has completed four years. But dissidence in the party coupled with
should create tools and implements that alleviate the drudgery of pressure from Opposition parties could put the Congress in jeopardy a year down the line
farmers, workers, artisans and weavers. The number one barom-
eter for successful outcome of research and innovation should be RAGHU KRISHNAN while Prasad joined the BJP. The attempt at a makeover. Earlier this zens, who organised peaceful sion. Modi will have the twin chal-
its beneficial applicability to a wider section of the population. blessings of Congress President week, he launched a web portal, protests on the streets. lenge of ensuring victory for the par-
I am happy that the awardees for both innovation and research In April, Karnataka will see by-elec- Sonia Gandhi have so far ensured Pratibimba (reflection), that pro- The BJP has also petitioned the ty in Karnataka and his home state
adequately meet this benchmark. The award-winning innovation tions to two Assembly seats — that Siddaramaiah continued to vides a dashboard of the schemes Election Commission to direct Gujarat in the next round of
of Deepak Pant — a reactor for direct conversion of waste plastic Gundlupet and Chamarajanagar. retain power despite the odds the government has delivered vis- Siddaramaiah against offering Assembly elections.
to LPG — has great potential for meeting the energy requirements Both seats were represented by the he faced. à-vis its promises. Only two thirds of sops in his last Budget lest it has an “The BJP has collapsed due to its
at grassroots as well as protection of the environment. Shyam Congress in the last elections and The gap between promise and the promises have been met and influence on the electorate in contradictions,” Shastri says. “It is
Sundar’s ground-breaking research in the diagnosis and treat- have fallen vacant — Gundlupet due delivery of governance by the there is still a year to go before the the by-polls. only the goodwill of the government
ment of Indian Kala-azar has relevance in improving the health to the death of former minister Congress government has been Assembly elections. A year ahead of the polls, the BJP in Delhi that could bail it out in
profile of the population. The pioneering work of Prof Niranjan Mahadeva Prasad, and growing in the last four years. The Dinesh Gundu Rao, working continues to be a fractured house. the states.”
Karak in the field of chemical science has scope for wide applica- Chamarajanagar after minister electorate voted for Siddaramaiah, a president of the Karnataka Pradesh Former chief minister B S The JD-S, the regional party
tion, especially in the context of resource conservation. Srinivasa Prasad, a close confidante backward class leader, to power on Congress Committee, is confident Yeddyurappa, who is leading the headed by former prime minister H
JNU has been adjudged the best university for its unrelenting of chief minister Siddaramaiah, fell the promise of good governance. that the party will return to power. party’s campaign, has been at log- D Deve Gowda, is looking for an
pursuit of academic excellence. It has shown outstanding per- out with him, quit the “This has been a “Definitely, we are in a strong gerheads with his colleague K S opportunity in the situation the
formance in all key parameters like quality of students and faculty, Congress and joined government that is position to win again in Karnataka,” Eshwarappa. The disunity has been Congress and the BJP are faced with.
training of faculty, citations, publications, research projects, for- the Bharatiya Janata drifting since it came Rao says. “We have seen no scan- so visible that the central leadership JD-S has already invoked passions
eign collaborations, seminars and innovation exhibitions. Party (BJP). to power. It won on a dals; not one minister has been had to intervene to calm tempers, among 100,000 drivers aligned with
Many central universities that have been set up in recent years may This election bat- negative mandate — under a cloud for corruption in even as the party carries its past taxi apps such as Ola and Uber, who
not be in the reckoning for top honours immediately. But they must tle sets the stage for of people’s dissatisfac- the last four years. We are a scan- baggage of leading a regime riddled are seeing their earnings fall due to
start participating in the rankings seriously. This would provide them 2018 when the state tion with the BJP gov- dal-free government.” with corruption. Yeddyurappa was pressure on the companies to turn
a framework for academic management along global best practices. goes to the polls. The ernment before,” says But Opposition parties are up in discharged by the Karnataka High profitable. The JD-S has blamed the
The new universities have to take off successfully overcoming nascent- chief minister will Sandeep Shastri, polit- arms. Both the BJP and the Janata Court last year on technical grounds government for indifference
stage hurdles. A robust management focused on institution-building also face a trial in his ical scientist and pro- Dal-Secular (JD-S) have begun the in a case of illegally denotifying land towards the drivers, who have
is the key. The book released today containing the memoirs of 18 for-
mer vice-chancellors would provide valuable lessons to our current
backyard: Where the
two constituencies fall STATE vice-chancellor at the
Jain University. “Over
ground work to make a dent in the
last big state ruled by the Congress.
in Bengaluru.
The charge had forced him to
migrated to Bengaluru from the par-
ty’s traditional stronghold in
academic leaders. Do remember these words of Pt Jawaharlal Nehru
(which I quote): “Loyal and efficient work in a great cause, even
though it may not be immediately recognised, ultimately bears fruit.”
could decide whether
he would lead the
Congress for the sec-
SCAN time, it has not done
anything substantial
or positive.”
The BJP is holding street protests
and raking up issues across the state
against the Siddaramaiah govern-
quit as chief minister. Subsequent
investigations and uncertainty in
the courts chastened Yeddyurappa.
Ramanagara, Mandya and Mysuru.
“There is no difference between
the BJP and the Congress,” said H D
In the end, I compliment the awardees once again. The Visitor’s ond time in a row. KARNATAKA “In the last four ment. It has already staked claim to He has now promised better gover- Kumaraswamy, former chief minis-
Awards, I hope, will motivate the central universities and the While he has years, there has been the success of active citizens, who nance if the party returned to pow- ter and state president of JD-S. “The
academic communities therein to work relentlessly towards excel- retained power for open display of dis- forced Siddaramaiah to scrap a con- er in the state. BJP started corruption, the Congress
lence. I wish each one of you the very best for your endeavours! four years, it has not been an easy unity,” he said. “The party is going in troversial steel flyover that would Despite being the only mass has continued with it. The state has
ride as dissidence often erupted, one direction, the government have cut through the heart of leader for the BJP in Karnataka, the only suffered in the last 10 years.
Edited excerpt of a speech by President of India Pranab Mukherjee at the with several senior leaders staking in another.” Bengaluru. The move that would Lingayat strongman has to depend There is growing frustration among
presentation of Visitor’s award, at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi claim to his chair. Former chief min- Aware of the discontent, have uprooted more than 800 trees on the charisma of Prime Minister the people. They want change. We
on March 6 ister S M Krishna quit the party, Siddaramaiah is making a last-ditch caused massive outrage from citi- Narendra Modi to make an impres- have a chance to offer that.”
 >
OPINION 11
Volume XI Number 1
MUMBAI | 12 MARCH 2017

the all-pervasive nature of family connections ented. It is difficult to argue, for instance, familial nexuses. In business, India’s licence

In the family way in Indian society. Politics and Bollywood are

not the only major institutions that reflect
this: India's largest corporate groups all are,
Dynasty pervades all aspects of Indian culture and remain, family-oriented in their man-
agement outlook. The Tata group, India's
that Mukesh Ambani should not have suc-
ceeded his father, nor that the bewildering
number of Kapoor clan stars have not earned
their spurs in Bollywood.
As for politics, though the Gandhi
raj, with its policy brakes on raising capital,
created a similar situation that endures. Note
the flowering of talent once institutional
finance expanded in the post-reform era:
infrastructure and e-commerce alone have

T
wo similar controversies in
Bollywood and national politics
unwittingly underlined a malaise
afflicting the country’s socio-polit-
ical culture. The first involved a forthright
statement by Kangana Ranaut, one of India’s
highest paid actors, on film-maker Karan
Johar's signature TV talk show about ram-
pant nepotism in the film industry. Mr Johar,
son of a famous film producer, was “the flag-
bearer of nepotism,” she said, sparking off a
debate that went viral. Later, Karti
Chidambaram, son of former Union minister
P Chidambaram, equated the Congress and
the two principal Tamil Nadu-based parties
— Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All
India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam —
to Family Pvt Ltd Companies. Ms Ranaut, a
self-made actor and rated among the indus-
try’s most talented, was talking from a posi-
tion of strength. Mr Chidambaram, who has
been under investigation by the Enforcement
Directorate, may have been speaking from
the precincts of a glass house. As a Congress
spokesman pointed out, he, too, had con-
tested from Sivaganga, the parliamentary
seat his father vacated for him. That the
younger Chidambaram lost the seat his
father had held for seven terms is, in this
instance, beside the point.
Both Ms Ranaut and Mr Chidambaram
raised thought-provoking arguments about
largest by turnover, is an exception only
because of circumstances that have less to do
with the inclination and all to do with the
shrinking cohort of the minority community
to which the founders belong. But even here,
a Tata family heir succeeded another for most
of the group's history until recently.
To be sure, this predisposition is not
unique to India. Asia’s two global economic
powerhouses, China (the “Red Princes”) and
South Korea, remain largely family affairs, as
do the “Tiger” south-east Asian economies.
Given the growth trajectory of these coun-
tries, it is possible to argue that family-ori-
ented societies need not be an impediment.
Dynastic rule need not matter if the heir is tal-
dynast may have demonstrably fallen short
of ability, there are any number of capable
inheritors within the Congress Party who
could take up the reins. The real question is
how far “family values” impact the market for
talent. It could be argued, for instance, that
India's best prime ministers — P V
Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee —
were non-dynasts.
Understanding the exclusionary nature
of nepotism is all about following the money.
Crony capitalism flourishes when financial
sources remain outside formal institutional
frameworks. In Bollywood and politics, mobil-
ising large amounts of capital demands per-
sonal relationships that inevitably foster
seen the emergence of dynamic new busi-
nesspeople.
The mainstreaming of cinema finance
created space for directors such as Imtiaz Ali
and Shoojit Sarkar and actors like Siddharth
Malhotra and Ranvir Singh — all non-
dynasts — to emerge. The risks can be seen in
the scandal that recently impeached South
Korean President Park Geun-hye, implicated
for corruption that also led to the arrest of the
scion of one of South Korea’s most blue-
blooded chaebol Samsung. Finally, if any-
thing illustrates the talent-maximising values
of public institutional rigour it is the United
States which remains, despite everything,
the world's greatest land of opportunity.

Reclaiming low-skill manufacturing Towards integrated

Three labour-intensive segments in the sports goods sector — apparel, footwear and equipment — offer
India significant export opportunities
logistics facilitation
REUTERS RAJEEV KHER & PRITAM BANERJEE toring the efficiency of airports.
S CHANDRASEKHAR & C VEERAMANI Visualisation data through the use of cam-

P
rime Minister Modi’s “Make in India” eras could provide critical information on

T
he Economic Survey 2016-17 fails to provide a
clear-cut answer to the question it posed:
“Clothes and Shoes: Can India Reclaim Low
Skill Manufacturing?” Hearteningly, we have a plau-
sible and precise answer. Within the textile, gar-
ment and leather sectors we sought to identify prod-
ucts with the following characteristics: First, their
world demand needs to be growing; and second,
the demand needs to increase with growth in future
world incomes — i.e. demand for the product should
be income-elastic. We believe that three segments in
the sports goods sector — apparel, footwear and
equipment — which are also labour-intensive, offer
India significant export opportunities.
In value terms, the global trade in sports goods
has grown annually at 5.1 per cent in the recent past.
Although India’s exports of sports goods increased
from $64.8 million in 1990 to $686.4 million by 2014,
its current share in world trade in sports goods is a
miniscule 0.82 per cent. Since India accounts for
4.7 per cent of the world’s export of non-sports
apparel, it is a puzzle that India’s share in the world
market for sports apparel is as low as 0.25 per cent.
While India ranks third in the world exports of non-
sports apparel, its rank in the case of sports apparel
was 29th in 2014.
It is painfully obvious that India’s exports of
sports goods lags behind other developing coun-
tries such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Vietnam,
which made a conscious effort to expand the output
of their sports goods industries. Today, these coun-
tries are already part of buyer-driven global pro-
duction networks. Yet, we believe that there is sub-
stantial scope for India to step up the pace of her
export growth and catch up with, if not surpass, oth-
er countries. What is our belief premised on?
India can ride on the increase in the number of
sports events across the world to grow her share in
world trade in sports goods. As more individuals take
holidays overseas, particularly in developed coun-
tries, they are exposed to leisure- and sports-related
activities. The broadcast of major international sport-
ing events to all countries around the globe, and real
time communication of images and results of athletic
achievements, can also affect the decision of indi-
viduals to participate in sporting activities.
There has indeed been an explosive growth in the
number of individuals participating in athletic
events. One does observe an increase in the number
of professional, amateur and recreational runners.
The number of athletic events approved by the
International Association of Athletics Federations
(IAAF) has increased from 30 in 1990 to over 200 in
recent years. As per one estimate, one in 200 indi-
viduals in the United States participates in a running
event. Another estimate indicates that, over the peri-
od 2009-2014, the number of participants in
marathons increased by 92.4 per cent in Asia. If one
were to include half-marathons and other races, the
growth will be markedly higher.
Our conjecture is not based on what can be dis-
missed as casual empiricism, since our hypothesis is
backed by data. First, much of the 10-fold increase
in India’s exports of sports goods to $686.35 million
in 2014 occurred in recent years, when there has
been an increase in the number of sporting events all
around the world. Second, based on a multivariate
analysis of determinants of bilateral trade, we find
that the number of sporting events held by India’s
partner countries is an important determinant of
India’s exports of sports goods. Sporting events such
initiative can help India’s greater inte- efficiency on the use of cranes, RoRo oper-
gration into global value chains ations, and operations at terminals and CFS
through an exponential increase in trade at ports or at airports.
and investment. Such integration would The next step in establishing a system of
require transformational reforms in the real-time data collection and analysis would
area of trade facilitation. be to put in place an “autonomous” data
Trade facilitation is much more than collection infrastructure and an institu-
administrative reforms to reduce the paper tional framework. This would require cre-
trail and create greater transparency. These ating port and airport community systems
are important objectives, and credit must be that report operational parameters (e.g.
given to the current government for expe- waiting time for ships or idling time of air-
dited implementation of Customs single- craft at parking bays due to congestion) and
window and other key reforms in the productivity parameters (e.g. number of
administrative process. But Customs is just crane- and man-hours per tonne of cargo or
one leg of the entire logistics process that average time taken for ground handling
supports connectivity to global value- operations at airports). In addition, data
chains. Trade facilitation needs to address available with Customs relating to the time
infrastructure and regulatory bottlenecks taken for cargo clearance — from the point
all along the chain of transport, port and the data was filed with the Customs to the
airport gateways, freight movement in the time it was released formally by the
Railways, and ancillary services that make Customs — would be a part of the matrix.
up the overall logistics solution for trading This system-reported data would be sup-
across borders. plemented and validated by visual data col-
A key challenge is to first establish a lection using CCTV cameras and drone cam-
holistic framework that can identify the key eras where applicable, and appropriate
elements of these activities in the logistics quantification techniques to convert visual
chain, and find an effective way to monitor data to numbers would need to be put in
their performance. A related challenge is place. Further validation could be provided
to find a governance structure to analyse by running GPS- or RFID-based trackers on
this granular data, identify selected random sample con-
problems at the operational lev- Trade facilitation tainers (for ocean freight) and
el, and implement solutions. needs to address unit load devices for air-cargo
Since the responsibility for the infrastructure that puts an electronic time
operational issues in the logis- bottlenecks all stamp after every activity in the
tics chain are spread over sev- along the chain of logistics chain is completed.
eral line ministries and depart- transport — port Logistics operators already
ments, the institutional and airport have a large number of detailed
leadership for such reforms gateways, the parameters called Key
cannot be left to an individual Railways — and Performance Indicators or KPIs
line ministry, but should come ancillary services for every stage of the logistics
Participants in the New York City Marathon, held in November 2016. The explosive growth in athletic events in from the very top. This would needed for trading process, focusing on both
recent years is a source of demand for Indian-made running shoes require the development of a across borders operational parameters (based
robust mechanism for real- on time-related efficiency) and
as the number of IAAF-approved events held by the We believe that the expression, “the devil is in the time monitoring of ground-lev- productivity parameters (based
partner country, participation of the partner coun- detail”, has not been recognised in discussions on el operational and regulatory performance on resource use-related efficiency). A large
try in international football tournaments and the “Make in India”. The discourse on make what in of India’s key ports, airports, freight move- number of the KPIs could be adopted into
hosting of marquee events, are key demand shifters India has to be not only more nuanced but also gran- ment by the Railways, internal container this monitoring matrix. Having access to this
which have a positive effect on India’s exports of ular to the extent outlined by us. depots, land customs stations, and ancillary real-time data base would allow policymak-
sports goods. Our contention is that demand conditions are facilities such as container freight stations ers to identify key micro-level “pain points”
Third, we draw a contrast between the rate of conducive for India to race ahead of other countries (CFS) near ports, free trade warehousing at specific ports/airports, analyse redun-
growth of labour-intensive in export of sports goods, provided the ecosystem zones, and major bonded warehouses. dancy levels in processes and the quality of
Indian firms goods as a whole and sports can be galvanised. Towards this end, it is important Fortunately, developments in big data, implementation at the ground level, and
need to become goods. We find that in the for organisations such as the Sports Goods Export especially techniques now available for easy understand the varying degrees of opera-
part of global period 2010-14, the annual Promotion Council and the Export Import Bank of quantification of visual data, and falling tional efficiency and service quality at port
networks, rate of growth of India’s sports India to identify and adopt best practices from oth- costs of technology offer a solution for this and airport terminals.
where the lead goods exports is much higher er labour-abundant countries that have gained task. All secure customs facilities could be The fact-based trade and logistics facil-
companies focus at 24.59 per cent than that of tremendous success in international markets in the fitted with CCTV cameras that monitor itation reforms that this would allow would
on design and overall labour-intensive sports goods sector. throughput of cargo in and out of such facil- help India quickly achieve its goal of “Top
marketing, exports, which grew at 8.86 Indian companies need to become part of buyer- ities, providing real-time tracking of effec- 20” in rankings relating to doing business
while per cent, and non-sports driven global production networks, where the lead tive “dwell time” in customs locations, and across borders. The fact that “things are
production is apparel, which grew at 10.93 firms (usually large multinational corporations) con- incidence of actual physical inspections being observed” would in itself bring in a
subcontracted to per cent. Fourth, and more centrate on design, branding and marketing while being undertaken by officials on the level of awareness and efficiency at the
suppliers importantly, we do not find the physical production is subcontracted to suppli- ground, as opposed to published numbers ground level. Such “fact based” reporting
located in India any effect of the number of ers located in India. As a matter of extension, India’s of facilitated cargo generated by the cus- would also provide a reality check on some
sporting events held by India’s exports will increase and the trade orientation will toms electronic system. Similarly, technol- of the low “rankings” that India seems to
partner countries on the export of other labour- change towards traditional rich-country markets in ogy-based tracking systems could be put have obtained in many global publications.
intensive products, including non-sports apparel. It North America and Europe. in place to observe port efficiency through
is this differential finding that provides the basis parameters related to waiting times for Rajeev Kher is Member, Competition Appellate
for our argument that it is indeed possible to iden- The writers are with Indira Gandhi Institute of Development ships at berths and in queues to enter ports, Tribunal. Pritam Banerjee is Senior Director,
tify sporting goods as an industry with large poten- Research, Mumbai. Shyama Balachandran and Purna and time taken for piloting ships. Similar Deutsche Post DHL, South Asia. The views are
tial in the context of “Make in India”. Banerjee helped with data work principles could be put in place for moni- personal

> OTHER VIEWS

Robust turnouts in state polls IISc does India proud Western Ghats in peril
belie fears about voter fatigue Holds lessons for country’s universities Open consultations with people needed
In India the electorate’s enthusiasm Indian universities rarely California Institute of The ministry of environment ed by the gram sabhas.
leave a mark in global uni- Technology, the best small recently notified, once again, Amidst widespread alarm
cuts across gender, class and age versity rankings. The Times university according to the nearly 57,000 square km of among the populace, the gov-
Higher Education Rankings Times ranking, has one the Western Ghats as an eco- ernment quickly constituted
Voter turnout estimates are often revised for a final tally by the are no different. No Indian teacher for every six stu- logically sensitive area. The the Kasturirangan panel to
Election Commission, but by all accounts the current round varsity figures in the top-200 dents. Indeed, the overall six states — Gujarat, examine Gadgil’s recommen-
of Assembly elections has witnessed deepened participation. in the list released on March faculty-student ratio in the Maharashtra, Goa, Karna- dations. It revised the ESA to
In the final, and seventh, phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections 7. The performance of the country, 1:27, is a good indi- taka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala 37 per cent of the Western
on March 8, the turnout for the 40 seats was initially estimated Indian Institute of Science cator of the poor perform- — that the ESA falls under Ghats, leaving sensitive
to be 60.03 per cent, an increase of more than two per cent (IISc) in Bengaluru — ranked ance of Indian universities and other stakeholders have areas like the sacred groves in
over 2012, and hovering near the average for all the seven eighth in the list of small uni- in global surveys. 60 days to register their objec- Kerala vulnerable to
phases. In the second phase of Manipur's election the same versities — provides the only Comparisons between tions. The tussle between the builders.
day, for 22 of the total 60 constituencies, the turnout in three- silver lining in an otherwise educational institutes Centre and the states over A wider and more open
quarters of the booths was reckoned to be more than 86 per embarrassing performance should not be taken too far. how much of these forests consultation with people,
cent. In Punjab, which went to the polls on February 4, the by the country’s top educa- But the IISc’s performance should be protected from especially those living in and
turnout was 77.4 per cent, marginally less than the 78.2 per tional institutions. Global on institutional autonomy is exploitation has been going around these forests, imbued
cent registered in 2012. In Goa, which also voted on February surveys — and pedagogic salutary in times when the on since the report of the with proper scientific insight,
4, it was about 83 per cent, indicating a marginal increase principles — recognise that academic bureaucracy in the Gadgil committee was first can lead to the emergence of
since 2012. more faculty per student country often treats univer- made public in 2012. It sug- many solutions like agro-eco-
Indeed, in comparison to other mature democracies with makes for an institution with sities like another govern- gested that the entire area of logical farming and commu-
their problem of low voting by the young, the so-called mil- Psephological data are rich with the reasons that motivate a an engaged and interactive ment department — or at the Western Ghats be consid- nity-led ecological tourism.
lennials, in India voter enthusiasm cuts across class and age. vote, and each verdict must be read separately. The decreas- teaching environment. The times, even the govern- ered ESA and be demarcated The sooner this is done,
And as the 2014 Lok Sabha election turnout indicated, it has ing gender gap is one to particularly celebrate. IISc has a teacher-student ment’s handmaiden. into three zones based on the the better.
also bridged the gender gap, with the EC reckoning it has ratio of around 1:8. To put level of threat posed to the
come down to 1.46 percentage points, from 4.42 in 2009. The Hindu, March 10 things in perspective, The Indian Express, March 10 region, which was to be decid- The Telegraph, March 10
12
>
MUMBAI | 12 MARCH 2017 1

Cordial tweets replace caustic Indian firms raising

cheaper funds abroad
comments after election verdict ANUP ROY
Mumbai, 11 March INDIAN BOND ISSUANCES ABROAD IN 2017
This result is for Investors This is a vote of There is an

sure confidence
of the people of
UP in the Modi
government
and its policies.
This will
hopefully
change the
equation in the
Rajya Sabha so
that the
progressive bills
get passed
SAJJAN JINDAL
Chairman and MD JSW group
MANAVI KAPUR
New Delhi, 11 March
When five states go to polls in a coun-
try as diverse and large as India,
opinions are easy to come by. And
for those who don’t find a voice dur-
ing the punditry on television, there’s
always Twitter.
From lamentations to shock, awe
and celebrations, social media, right
from the time the early trends came
in on Saturday morning, saw a burst
of reactions from social media
celebrities, businessmen and, of
course, politicians. In fact,
#UPElections2017 was a top trend on
Twitter, including a more tongue-in-
cheek #BJPWinsElectricity4UP,
alluding to Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s comment about electricity
supply during Ramzan and Diwali at
an election campaign last month.
It would seem politicians across
parties were ready with tweets to cel-
ebrate victory or graciously concede
defeat, whatever the case may be.
Unlike a campaign that left much to
be desired in terms of quality of
debate and resorted to open mud-
slinging, party leaders such as
Congress Vice-President Rahul
Gandhi took to Twitter to congratu-
late the prime minister. He wrote, “I
congratulate Shri. Narendra Modi
and the BJP on their victory in Uttar
Pradesh & Uttarakhand.” This tweet,
ironically, came before the ones
where he congratulated Amarinder
Singh, former Punjab chief minister
I
confidence in Issue date Companies Coupon % Maturity year
value anti- ndian com-
predictability PM Modi’s incumbency panies, 9-Mar ICICI Bank 3.25 2022
and stability. leadership and force across specifically
BJP’s performance. banks, in inter- 2-Feb Axis Bank 2.135* 2020
different states.
resounding This stunning Wherever the national mar- 1-Feb NTPC 2.75 2027
victory in victory will incumbent kets are raising
24-Jan State Bank of India 3.25 2022
UP points embolden the government money through
to long term government to has not bonds at a finer 19-Jan Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone 3.95 2022
leadership. take radical focused on rate than many 18-Jan Shriram Transport Finance 8.25 2020
Markets may steps to put the development financial institu-
Source: Bloomberg; * is floating rate; rest of the figures (in %) are in fixed rate
well applaud Indian economy in a big way, tions from other
next week on the path people are countries rated
of rapid voting superior to India are doing. Of course, not all Indian than 6.5 per cent in 2007. The
growth them out. India has an international companies are pricing their secondary market yield of that
rating of BBB-, a notch above bonds as competitively. But the bond is now close to 3.8 per
junk. pricing is any way cheaper than cent, which establishes that ICI-
ANAND MAHINDRA AJAY SINGH KIRAN MAZUMDAR-SHAW ICICI Bank last week raised what they would have raised in CI Bank paper is attractive. As
Chairman, M&M group CMD, SpiceJet Chairman, Biocon $300 million through 5.5-year the domestic market. The pric- yields fall, prices of bonds rise.
bonds at equivalent maturity ing between companies also The same is the case with
and chief of the Punjab Pradesh to face up to reality today & do some- Harsh Goenka, chairman of RPG US treasury plus 155 basis varied widely. For example, State Bank of India bonds in the
Congress Committee, for the party’s thing about it than bury our collec- Enterprises, shared a limerick osten- points. The fixed rate coupon Shriram Transport Finance Co secondary market. Yields have
face-saving victory in the state. tive heads in the sand. A spade is a sibly celebrating the “Modi wave” in of the bond came at 3.25 per Ltd raised three-year money at fallen much below the coupon
It was indeed a happy birthday for spade is a spade.” UP. “UP mein ho gayi Modi Sarkaar, cent. India’s largest lender, State 8.25 per cent, even as Adani of these bonds.
Singh, who received personal wishes Most of Bollywood and the sports Sehwag ke jaise 300 paar, Akhilesh ko Bank of India (SBI), similarly, Ports and Special Economic This also indicates that
from the prime minister, both for his fraternity chose to stay out of the padi zor ki maar, desh ki ho gayi beda priced its bonds too at 3.25 per Zone raised five-year money at international investors are now
birthday and the election victory. He, quandary. Virender Sehwag, who has paar. (UP has a Modi government,just cent in January. 3.95 per cent. able to distinguish between
too, took to Twitter to thank Modi. a quick-witted comment for every- like Sehwag would score 300, Axis Bank, through floating “In the global context, good companies and bad, and
“Thankyou @narendramodi ji for thing under the sun, remained silent Akhilesh was hit hard, but the coun- bonds, raised money at 2.135 improvement in India’s macro- are not very bothered about the
your good wishes. I look forward to on the elections. The only exception try will see better days),” he wrote. per cent. State-owned NTPC economicparametersandhigh- country rating as long as their
working with you for the betterment was perhaps the fearless Rishi He then wrote a more serious note Ltd raised money at er growth prospects have money is safe. This is some-
of Punjab.” Kapoor, who wrote, “STOP PRESS. about how a “decisive mandate” will 2.75 per cent. reflected in increased demand thing that rating agencies have
In the face of such cordiality, true Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi allow the “stock market to rock” and These are superfine rates, for Indian credits,” said an ICI- to consider. Even as India lob-
politicians also knew that the time have sent a very sporting message to for the rupee to strengthen. Anand considering they came from a CI Bank spokesperson. bies hard with international rat-
is always right to the BJP... UP Mahindra, chairman and managing country with a sovereign rating “ICICI Bank, on the strength ing agencies, the country rat-
start preparing for YOURS ! [sic].” He director, Mahindra Group, echoed thatisjustabovethespeculative of its robust franchise and ing has remained static for a
the next election Flooding with jokes and also shared a similar thoughts. “Investors value grade. strongcapitalposition,hasbeen very long time even as the agen-
season. It seems B memes, Twitter was a laugh meme that fea- predictability & stability. BJP’s Consider these rates from aregularissuerintheUSDbond cies and other international
S Yeddyurappa, riot on Saturday. Stand-up tured Akhilesh resounding victory in UP points to well-known issuers in countries markets. Through well-timed investors continue to praise the
state president of comic Tanmay Bhatt pointed Yadav and his wife, long term leadership. Markets may ratedafewnotchesaboveIndia. issuances, the bank has been economic resilience and fun-
the Bharatiya to the irony that Manipur’s Dimple, inviting well applaud next week [sic].” Chinese companies and finan- able to access foreign funding at damentals of the country.
Janata Party in Iron Sharmila got fewer people to the inau- “With this outcome, one would cial institutions regularly tap very competitive rates,” the Clearly, investors have
Karnataka, is votes than Rakhi Sawant. guration of their hope more decisive implementation the market to raise bonds at 3.5 spokesperson said. movedaheadofratingagencies.
already looking Others still, though, had cycle shop. of economic and developmental poli- per cent plus. For example, To be sure, rates could be “Investors put their money
forward to matters other than the Pritish Nandy, cies,” said Harsh Pati Singhania, China’s biggest conglomerate, structured in a manner that can in a company on a case-by-case
Assembly elections elections on their minds founder of Pritish director, JK Organisation. CITIC Group, raised money at effectively mask the rating of basis. This is not unusual that a
in his state. “I am Nandy Commu- Flooding with jokes and memes, 3.875 per cent on February 28. the firm. For example, by giving company with a lower-rated
confident that peo- nications, was Twitter was a laugh riot on Saturday. Germany’s Allianz SE raised ahigherdiscounttothefaceval- country gets very good rates
ple of Karnataka will vote for BJP more cryptic with his views. “When Stand-up comic Tanmay Bhatt point- money in September at 3.875 ue, the effective coupon could because the underlying funda-
similar to UP & ensure BJP’s magnif- Chief Ministers lose their own seats, ed to the irony that Manipur’s Iron per cent, and Britain’s be squeezed even further. In mentals of the company and
icent victory in the up coming assm- it speaks volumes for the govern- Sharmila got fewer votes than Rakhi Prudential Plc at 5.25 per cent in that case, taking the coupon the structure of the paper are
bly election [sic],” he tweeted. ments they ran.” In a sardonic refer- Sawant. Others still, though, had July last year, around the same won’t be a right measure. good,” said Lillian
Omar Abdullah, former Jammu ence to the Ramjas College contro- matters other than the elections on time BNP Paribas raised eight- Inthatcase,thebestgaugeis Georgopoulou, fixed income
and Kashmir chief minister, had pre- versy, media personality Suhel Seth their minds. “India is a big country & year funds at 3.650 per cent, to see the yield in the secondary product specialist at the
dictions to offer for the 2019 general said of Mayawati’s allegations of vote election results are not the only issue whereas drug major Pfizer Inc market of the firm’s existing London Stock Exchange.
elections. “In a nutshell there is no tampering, “Mayawati didn’t lose the on people’s minds. Thiruvanan- raised 30-year funds at an bonds.
leader today with a pan India accept- elections. The EVMs did.” thapuram celebrating annual annual coupon of ICICI Bank had issued a cer-
ability who can take on Modi & the But perhaps the most vocal opin- #AttukalPongala,” wrote Congress 4.20 per cent. tain bond at a coupon of more More on business-standard.com
BJP in 2019,” he wrote. Lest this ions came from India Inc. A frequent MP Shashi Tharoor from his Lok
sound defeatist, he clarified, “Better user of the micro-blogging platform, Sabha constituency.

Nifty can hit 12,000 by Naxals kills 12

March 2018, feel analysts
PUNEET WADHWA
New Delhi, 11 March
The markets are likely to head
higher in the coming week,
with the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) registering a mas-
sive win in the key state of
Uttar Pradesh (UP). The out-
come of polls in Punjab, UP,
Goa, Uttarakhand and
Manipur could create distrac-
tions (or positives) for the gov-
ernment and will be interpret-
ed as a referendum on the
government’s demonetisation
drive, analysts say.
The election outcome in UP
(the biggest state by popula-
tion), was being dubbed as the
semi–final to the 2019 general
elections, and appeared to be
heading towards a close fight.
Here’s how market experts
interpret the poll results and
its implication for the govern-
ment’s reform agenda and the
markets:
DEVEN CHOKSEY,
MANAGING DIRECTOR,
KR CHOKSEY SECURITIES
It was mostly
expected that
the BJP will
come to
power in UP.
However, with
the BJP coming to
power with such a thumping
majority suggests that the
reform process will accelerate
in the Parliament. The oppo-
sition parties are getting
reduced to decimals. That’s
the good part politics. For any
country to progress, there
should be a constructive
growth programme. Unfortu-
nately, our opposition parties
are following a destructive
way of functioning in the
Parliament. Now, the election
results suggest that a con-
structive programme will hap-
pen going ahead. Given the
growth potential we are
assuming in the economy, I
would not be surprised to see
the Nifty50 move up 10 per
cent from here on over the
next 6 – 12 months.
G CHOKKALINGAM,
FOUNDER & MANAGING
DIRECTOR, EQUINOMICS
RESEARCH & ADVISORY
The outcome is
beyond mar-
ket’s expec-
tation and
will be a sen-
timental
boost. The victory
margin (as indicated by the
leads) suggests that the mar-
ket will remain in a long-term
bull run. One can expect a
stability for the next five
years, provided the economy
and corporate earnings pick
up. Even without a majority
in Rajya Sabha, the govern-
ment could push through key
reforms like the goods and
services tax (GST) bill and the
Insurance Bill. That apart,
there was the demonetisation.
Going ahead, I expect more
such initiatives from the gov-
ernment.
AJAY BODKE, CEO & CHIEF
PORTFOLIO MANAGER -
PMS, PRABHUDAS
LILLADHER
BJP’s emphatic
victory in the
politically-
crucial state
of UP would
embolden the
Prime Minister in
aggressively expediting key
structural economic reforms
that have been hobbling
India’s growth impulses. Mr
Modi has achieved a golden
mean by emphasising on eco-
nomic reforms with equity-for-
all as its fulcrum.
On one hand, he has
focused on structural macro-
economic reforms like fiscal
prudence, inflation control
and government-led infra-
structure development in
roads & railways, and on the
other, he has given equal
importance to pro-poor
transformational economic
policies that touch the lives
of the marginalised & down-
trodden cutting across castes
and thereby broadened his
party’s support base through
schemes like Mudra loans,
LPG cylinders & housing-for-
all.
Equity market would be
rejoiced with this outcome and
scale a new high ably support-
ed by a torrent of domestic liq-
uidity. Though valuations
remain expensive markets
would pin its hope on recovery
of as-yet tepid corporate earn-
ings over the next few quarters
and the passage of GST.
A K PRABHAKAR, HEAD
OF RESEARCH AT IDBI
CAPITAL
People have
voted in
favour of the
reform
process. This
was also the
case in the recent
Maharashtra civic polls. The
election outcome, especially
in UP, is a positive as the BJP
has won a key state. In this
backdrop, the government’s
reform process will take a front
seat going ahead. One can also
see more initiatives like
demonetisation going ahead.
There was speculation ear-
lier of the government crack-
ing down on dubious invest-
ments real estate and gold.
These are two areas where gov-
ernment action can be expect-
ed now. The government will
now have more courage to go
ahead with its reform agenda
going ahead.
The real market rally will
start now, and I expect the
markets to scale to all-time
highs soon. If the Nifty50
index is able to breach its pre-
vious high of 9,119 levels, I
expect it to hit 12,000 mark by
March 2018.
VIJAY SINGHANIA,
FOUNDER-DIRECTOR,
TRADE SMART ONLINE
Markets are
expected to
break into a
new zone
with the
Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP)
achieving a landslide victory
in Uttar Pradesh and
Uttarakand. This win will
help Prime Minister Narendra
Modi more say in the Rajya
Sabha and will take forward
key economic reforms. We
could see the Nifty-50 swing
150-300 points in the coming
week.
CRPF jawans in
Chhattisgarh
R KRISHNA DAS
Raipur, 11 March
Celebration of Bharatiya
Janata Party’s resounding
victory in Uttar Pradesh
turned into a low key affair
in party-ruled Chhattisgarh,
as Naxalites laid a deadly
ambush and killed 12 jawans
of the Central Reserve
Police Force (CRPF) in
restive Sukma district on
Saturday morning.
Three jawans were
injured in the incident that
took place near Kottacheru
under Bhejji police station
— about 450 kms from
Raipur — at around 9:30
am. The security personnel
from the 219th battalion of
the CRPF were engaged in
providing security cover for
the road construction proj-
ect in the area.
The state government is
constructing a road between
Dornapal and Jagargunda
across a patch of 58 km. The
rebels had been opposing
road projects fearing it
would facilitate the move-
ment of forces in the pockets
that they claimed to be their
“liberated zone”.
A team of 120 jawans was
on a road security mission
when they walked into the
ambush laid by the rebels.
As the jawans came in the
range, Naxalites, who had
taken already position,
opened indiscriminate fire.
The troop immediately took
position and retaliated but
lost 11 jawans in the first hit
of bullets from the rebels.
One jawan succumbed
while on his way back. After
a brief gunbattle, Naxalites
retreated into the forests.
Bastar’s acting Inspector
General of Police P
Sunderraj said reinforce-
ment was rushed from the
nearby camps to the spot.
The security personnel
evacuated the injured per-
sonnel and bodies. The
injured were airlifted and
admitted in Raipur.
As many as 11 camps had
been located between
Dornapal and Jagargunda.
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