Saturday, April 19, 2008

Divorced from realities

The price rise in agricultural commodities is a world wide phenomenon and with the lack of proactive steps the situation promises to get worse. There are many causes which have added up but still the world's leading economists have struggled to pinpoint the root cause of this issue. However our beloved comrades have found the cause of the issue in India...its the Manmohan Singh led UPA government.
The article is on the Chindu getting front page, (with a snapshot of the magnificent dirty dozen :))
http://www.hindu.com/2008/04/20/stories/2008042057630100.htm
The photo of the protesters is shown here,

The causes of the issue as identified by the CPM and its pals are nowhere close to what the real experts in the field state. Mr.Karat in his infinite wisdom states,
the government should ban futures trading in all essential commodities, withdraw all Bills allowing foreign direct investment in the commodities market, universalise the Public Distribution System, roll back the oil price hike, strengthen the essential commodities law and change the taxation structure of petroleum products.

Surprisingly there were a couple of the saner minds to be found joining these chumps. I was surprised to see N.Chandrababu Naidu with the CPM ( isn't the CPM supporting the Congress which has formed the govt. both in the Center and AP) and columnist M.J.Akbar one of the more rational writers from papers like TOI.
I guess desperate times bring in strange pairings together.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Naidu sees utility in supping with the CPM in reigning in the Congress, his chief rival in AP. As for M.J.Akbar, you have probably heard that he was fired from his post as Editor of Asian Age. The story goes that the owner who had political ambitions and was seeking the Congress ticket to the RS was told in no uncertain terms that he would have to get rid of Akbar for it to materialize. Akbar probably sees the price rise issue as a good opportunity to go after the party.

Dirt Digger said...

pilid,
Well thing is CPM is not a big source to control the Congress in AP.
Besides the policies of TDP which is progressive and liberal do not really gel with CPM which is socialist and bureaucratic. The arrangement is bizzare.
Thanks for the update on MJ Akbar.

who stole my pie said...

I guess the Central government has been guilty and derelict in exporting food crops last year at unremunerative prices and now in trying to shore up the foodgrains stock. Also they have been talking too much about the global situation as complicating their problems, without demonstrating what they have doen internally to insulate the global phenomenon.

But Left is a different species. They have been going to town without offering one concrete and effective advice. The only advice they have been giving is to throw the civilization to stone age and rejoice in the equality of all under the circumstances.

People like Chandrababu naidu will need to be exposed for his double standards. He is always seen as riding with the Hounds and running with the hares. His only premise seems to me is to achieve power at any cost.

S.Thyagarajan.

Anonymous said...

Dirt digger,

CPM supports the Congress at the Center. As you know, in the Congress, the High Command is the most important authority. So in that sense, Naidu hopes to gain some leverage I guess. It is not about whether the TDP and the CPM share similar ideas - they absolutely do not - but usually opposition alliances are more often than not opportunistic.

Dirt Digger said...

Thyagarajan,
Thanks for the update on the food export issue.
Also they have been talking too much about the global situation as complicating their problems, without demonstrating what they have doen internally to insulate the global phenomenon.

Thats a great point CPM is a great example of how to win using negative politics, threatening innocent people and minority appeasement.

Dirt Digger said...

Pilid,
The catch is the media will not question the CPM about why they would support Naidu who opposes Congress, but the CPM themselves supports Congress at the Center but opposes them in Kerala and WB.
Wow ! This is like a mega-serial.

Anonymous said...

Dirt digger, previously roles were reversed. The Congress supported the NF/UDF fronts from outside at the Center while opposing governments run by the very same regional parties at the State level. When Naidu was CM and the NDA was in power, the AP unit of the BJP often opposed his policies at the state level. Political adultery is a hallmark of coalition politics in India and neither the media nor the people see anything unusual in the CPM supping with Naidu at all.