Monday, August 1, 2011

POLITICS: DMK Bothersome Brothers The DMK chief staves off an in-house war PUSHPA IYENGAR

PTI
In Control Karunanidhi with Stalin at the Coimbatore DMK meet
POLITICS: DMK
Bothersome Brothers
The DMK chief staves off an in-house war

Reaching Upwards...

  • At the Coimbatore general council of the DMK, M.K. Stalin's supporters pushed for him to be made working president, No. 2 to patriarch M. Karunanidhi
  • Brother Azhagiri was totally opposed to any such move
  • Karunanidhi himself stamped out Stalin's moves to get bigger
  • He introduced a new name in the succession race: Kanimozhi

***

The succession war in the DMK has been an elephant in the room since the Tirunelveli DMK youth conference in December 2007. Supporters of M.K. Stalin, former deputy chief minister and younger son of DMK patriarch M. Karunanidhi, have been clamouring for their "thalapathi" to be made numero UNO in the party. It did not happen at the Tirunelveli meet, when the DMK was in power; it hasn't happened now, when a battered and bruised DMK met in Coimbatore last weekend.

The difference between Tirunelveli and Coimbatore is that, at the latter meet, Stalin himself egged on his backers to get louder about their support, revealing his impatience. Finally, he was stymied by his own father. At the closed-door executive committee meeting attended by some 350 members, he is learnt to have said that his son's supporters, in their "orchestrated enthusiasm", were "trying to create a rift between me and Stalin. If anyone here feels I should quit, I will do so for the sake of the party". There is one more significant difference—Karunanidhi seems to have introduced another claimant to his throne, his favourite daughter Kanimozhi.

For DMK cadres already grumbling that the Karunanidhi family's domination had caused the party's fall in the elections, Kanimozhi's mother Rajathiammal's presence, behind Karunanidhi, was not reassuring. Also, if partymen came prepared to blame the 2G scam for the electoral loss, then Rajathiammal's presence helped squeeze out some sympathy (at one stage, Karunanidhi and Rajathiammal shed tears) for Kanimozhi. The mother's presence also helped in the adoption of a resolution that the CBI was keeping Kanimozhi in jail because of an "ulterior motive".

Karunanidhi's tactic to stamp out Stalin's overt moves to get anointed with his display of petulance the first day could not, however, keep Stalin's supporters from chanting "Thalapathi, thalapathi!" again the next day at the general council meeting. This time, Karunanidhi abruptly wound up the proceedings for lunch.


Not shaken Stalin caused him embarrassment, but Azhagiri has held his own

M.K. Azhagiri, the elder son and a Union minister, miffed that Stalin overshadowed him at the meeting, went into a sulk and did not show up for the afternoon session. He had earlier threatened to boycott the Tirunelveli meeting altogether. In exchange for his presence, he had got his father to commit that there would be no change in leadership.

It has been whispered in party circles that in the run-up to the meeting in Coimbatore there were tempestuous scenes between Stalin and his father. At the DMK headquarters, Stalin is believed to have argued with his father and walked out in a huff, after which Karunanidhi left for Mahabalipuram to cool off. Clearly, Karunanidhi is fed up.

No one actually asked Karunanidhi to step down, but the idea was to create the post of "working president" for Stalin, a stepping stone to gradually taking full control. But there might still be a via media. Says Anbazhagan, a senior party leader, "Stalin will get his turn at the right time. I am senior to him (Stalin is No. 3 in the party hierarchy) but I will not compete with him after Kalaignar. I am glad he enjoys greater popularity than me. But we cannot imagine a DMK without Kalaignar. Kalaignar is the DMK."

 
 
Stalin's open moves against elder brother Azhagiri have upset Karunanidhi, who's now caught in a bind.
 
 
The question is why Stalin, who was not only made deputy CM and party treasurer in 2009, is getting impatient and is openly taking on his brother. In the past, he has let his father handle the embarrassment that resulted from Azhagiri's blatant efforts to challenge his succession. This time Stalin is even believed to have got supporters from the southern districts to write letters seeking the dismantling of the post of "South Zone organising secretary", created by Karunanidhi in January 2009 for Azhagiri.

One G.V. Shah, who has been with the party for more than five decades, is believed to have written seeking the dismantling of the post to avoid "creating factions and confusion". Stalin has also rallied to his side supporters like former minister Subbulakshmi Jagadeesan, who from her hospital bed told other Stalin backers, "We have been waiting for long. Please be with him and see that this time Stalin gets the post he deserves."

A former minister said that after the DMK's defeat "many feel that if Stalin had been chosen to lead the DMK campaign, the AIADMK would not have won by a landslide". The feeling is that the party needs a strong and reliable leader, not a temperamental one (read Azhagiri). "Stalin is better than Azhagiri by a mile. No one believes Azhagiri will act responsibly," says a DMK watcher.

Azhagiri is aware of that perception about him. Which is why he has never put himself directly in contention with Stalin, but repeated that "Kalaignar is able and active". Stalin, unlike Azhagiri, has come up from the ranks, built up the youth wing since its inception 21 years ago, went to jail during the Emergency. He has been mayor of Chennai, and an MLA since 1991. He was made a minister only in the last government. "The party should now elevate him, at least as the working president," says an ex-minister.

But Stalin may not have factored in his own father's compulsions. Says a political analyst, "Karunanidhi wants to remain in power. Besides, his agenda now is to see Kanimozhi free." Also, the DMK needs his presence at a time it is in crisis and faces a slew of land-grabbing cases filed by the J. Jayalalitha government, in which many party stalwarts have been arrested. Even Azhagiri is worried, and went to meet his friends in Palayamkottai and Madurai jails last week. Kalaignar is desperate, and the last thing he wants is a split in the party, should Stalin be declared his successor. So the status quo has to prevail. Stalin will have to wait.

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DAILY MAIL
JUL 30, 2011 02:27 PM
1

Wonder why the 500kg of GOLD bought exclusively to be given free of cost to FEMALES has not found a dissenting note in Puspas article?

WAKE UP TO GENDER CASTEISM, MALES~!

MALE UNBLOCKED
CHENNAI, INDIA
JUL 30, 2011 08:27 PM
2

Pushpa, dont indulge in JOURNALISTIC PROSTITUTION.......I took a quick look at your last 3 articles..

1. July 25th State Snippets started with

       "A Donkey, A Horse - "She (Jayalalitha) is so egotistic. That's the difference between her and Karunanidhi," 
 

2. July 29th State Snippets started with

      "Time for Vendetta - Now that CM Jayalalitha is slowly getting into her vendetta stride"

3. Last para in this article "faces a slew of land-grabbing cases filed by the J. Jayalalitha government"

The above clearly establishes the fact that you are against Jaya, but at pleasure to suck up to the previous criminal regime of DMK and here is why

1. Where were you when the previous DMK govt attempted to change a peaceful Tamil Nadu into Somalia?

2. Should each member of the DMK family and DMK cabinet, be held accoutable for the enormous swindle and various crimes that they committed against the people? For ex: Alagiri for the murder of 3 of you fellow journalists and an ex-minister

3. Why are you still making heroes out of plain criminals who are bereft of any skills to lead the state into 21rst century.. A resume of violence and crime is not what the TN people want... and that is precisely why DMK was voted out

4. Regarding your statement in the last para, Jaya govt DID NOT FILE land grabbing cases... The VICTIMS filed those cases.. and it is the responsibilty of Jaya govt to investigate and bring to justice these enormous acts of crime..

Pushpa stop your unethical utter nonsense... Would you realize only if you were thrown out of your property by DMK criminals and your family made to sleep on the streets?

KEN
STLOUIS, UNITED STATES
JUL 31, 2011 11:58 AM
3

 Karunanidhi has realised that he should be inpower to free kanimozhi.Should he die and abrupt death the brothers will just leave her to fate and she will go to dogs.Karunandhi and seniors should realise that he cant be the leader forever.Stalin is still to establish himself as state wide leader.See his marjin of victory just 2000 votes.Dmk future looks bleak and it could split any time

CHINMAY
HYDERABAD, INDIA
AUG 01, 2011 10:03 AM
4

Who cares what Karuna and his sons do? I think the main issue is how did the systems - Law enforcement agencies, judiciary, the press allow mafia and criminal rule on this scale and the dmk family members and their henchmen have amassed thousands of crores .

Lokpal bill or no Lokpal bill the people of this country better find ways to stop the looting of the exchequer on this scale in all the states

SUDHA
CBE, INDIA
AUG 01, 2011 06:29 PM
5


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PERSONALITY: SOUMITRA CHATTERJEE When The Curtain Calls Acting legend Soumitra Chatterjee rages against the dying of the light on the stage DOLA MITRA

SANJAY RAWAT
Soumitra Chatterjee rehearses at Sri Ram Centre, New Delhi
PERSONALITY: SOUMITRA CHATTERJEE
When The Curtain Calls
Acting legend Soumitra Chatterjee rages against the dying of the light on the stage


"Fight, Koni, fight...that's my most memorable dialogue," declares Soumitra Chatterjee, pumping a fist into the air. You stare in disbelief. Not anything from Apur Sansar, or a line fromCharulata, innocent and yet meaningful, or even a penetrating Feluda witticism from Sonar Kella? Not anything Satyajit Ray is said to have written keeping him in mind? But then perhaps no other dialogue than this simple line from one of Soumitra's more obscure films—Koni, in which he plays a swimming coach training a small-town girl from a poor family to survive in the devious world of sports—holds more significance for him at the moment.

The veteran Bengali actor of nearly 300 films and Satyajit Ray's alter ego was detected with cancer last year. After some tests recently, the doctors have accepted defeat. We meet him on a wet morning in his Calcutta home; he is sitting in the living room lined with books, looking out the window into the distance. "Though we know we will die one day, the fact that when that moment will arrive is unknown to us gives us a false sense of permanence. So when you are given a certain timeframe to live, it immediately makes you aware of your transience," he says. But Chatterjee, 74, is clear how he wants to live the days he has left. "Not by trying to evade death," he says, "but by making the most of every living moment."


Ray and Soumitra on the sets of Ashani Sanket. (Photograph by Mona Chowdhuri)

And Soumitra is true to his word. For one of India's finest actors, who has got into the skin of numerous characters for the greater part of his life (he was 23 when he debuted as the protagonist Apu in Ray's Apur Sansar in 1959), it has now clearly become imperative to reveal his own self to others. In the past one year, he has produced two plays—Tritiyo Onko...Otoeband Atma Katha (The Third Act...Therefore and Autobiography). Though they are adaptations of other plays, both have strong elements from his life. In the first, three different characters portray three different aspects of a man who has been told that he will die soon. The second delineates the complexity of the protagonist's relationships with women, particularly his inability to deal with a situation in which a young woman falls in love with him while doing documentary research on his life. Soumitra, who faced a similar situation, admits that "it's the events in my life which have left an indelible impression in me which are finding their way into the theatre I create."

 
 
There are charges that Soumitra's King Lear fell afoul of the new regime in Bengal because of his political convictions.
 
 
The third play in this last phase of Soumitra's career involves a role every actor dreams of playing before taking a final bow—Shakespeare's King Lear. "His humility makes him exceptionally graceful and dignified; he can portray a majestic character like Lear and at the same time bring out all the frailties," says Suman Mukherjee, who has directed Soumitra in the Bengali version of Lear. "It's a paradox: you need the energy of a young man to portray Lear but you also need the maturity of an old man," adds Soumitra. The play has also caught Soumitra in the middle of political crosswinds blowing across Bengal. There has been some talk that productions of King Lear(funded by the state government) have been blocked—after the Trinamool came to power—because of Soumitra's political affiliations. He states candidly, "I am a believer of the Marxist ideology," but at the same time distances himself from any party. "I am not a political man and I can't imagine that my productions could be stalled because of perceptions of political leanings."

Suman is more nuanced (he was vocal in the Nandigram agitation, and insists he doesn't belong to any political party) but expresses discomfort with the possibility that there could be "attempts to put a political brand on even a veteran actor like Chatterjee". The Trinamool government says nothing of that sort is the case. They say King Lear was delayed because the Minerva Repertoire Theatre, which always stages Lear, is being refurbished, and it will take some time. Also, government sources say Lear productions are expensive and with the cut-back on funds for plays, it will have to wait till the sanctions come through.


Soumitra in Ray's Charulata and (right) Apur Sansar

A veteran of a career that's seen varied riches, Soumitra is unfazed. Wrapped up in the challenges of theatre at present, he has works with Mrinal Sen and Asit Sen to look back on, as also a successful commercial side. And, of course, Ray. Soumitra has acted in 15 of the 34 Ray films—they had a symbiotic relationship. Soumitra says originally Ray had not planned on doing an Apu trilogy but decided on it to accommodate him. "I was introduced to Ray while he was making Aparajito (the sequel to the masterpiece Pather Panchali). Ray said I was too mature to play the adolescent Apu in the second part. Later he told me he wrote Apur Sansarwith me in mind." This association continued till the end; his last film with Ray was Shakha Proshakha in 1990.

Of his many commercial hits, he says it was Ray who first encouraged him to try popular films. He confesses that he did have apprehensions about acting in out-and-out commercial cinema, but Ray used to tell him, "If you want to be great, nothing should be too small for you"—words still valued by someone who has rekindled his love for the stage.

A couple of years ago, when Outlook did a feature where celebrities were requested to go behind the camera and take snapshots illustrating what life means to them, Soumitra Chatterjee chose to take a picture of the Ganga at Calcutta's Babu Ghat because it reminded him of how the "eternal flow of life represented by the river was always juxtaposed with images of transience—the floating boat which becomes a speck in the horizon, or the traffic moving across the bridge over the river." Transience doesn't perturb him. He is not afraid of dying, he says, but is afraid of pain. With disease stalking him, what worries him most now is losing his dignity when the end comes. His daughter Poulomi, an actress and dancer, says: "Bapi is deeply spiritual—not religious—and he believes the spirit is indomitable. He will not let fatigue stop him." That is why, after such a long journey, he remembers Koni the most.

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AUTHORS:  DOLA MITRA 
PEOPLE:  SOUMITRA CHATTERJEE 
TAGS:  MOVIES | THEATRE 
SECTION:  ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
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DAILY MAIL
JUL 30, 2011 08:19 PM
1

 "Soumitra's more obscure films—Koni"

Well, not to bengali viewers. Its one of best comercial movie done by him.
I dont see any mention the romantic comedies pairing with Aparna Sen. One can never forget  BasantaBilap, a banquet of wit, music and comedy sense by this two legendary actors.

LOPAMUDRA
MUMBAI, INDIA
JUL 30, 2011 11:59 PM
2

What an actor!

PRADIP SINGH
STAFFORD, UNITED KINGDOM
AUG 01, 2011 06:28 PM
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FDJSIA
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2G SPECTRUM SCAM 'At Arms Length' The PMO on the reports 'regarding a noting of the Private Secretary to the Prime Minister conveying the directions of the Prime Minister on a matter relating to the allocation of spectrum' PMO

2G SPECTRUM SCAM
'At Arms Length'
The PMO on the reports 'regarding a noting of the Private Secretary to the Prime Minister conveying the directions of the Prime Minister on a matter relating to the allocation of spectrum'

Reports have appeared in the media regarding a noting of the Private Secretary to the Prime Minister conveying the directions of the Prime Minister on a matter relating to the allocation of spectrum. The noting in question was recorded on 23 January, 2008 and stated that 'PM wants this informally shared with the Department (of Telecom). (He) does not want a formal communication and wants PMO to be at arms length.'

2. A number of unwarranted inferences have been drawn from this noting without considering the issue that was being examined and the context in which these directions were conveyed. In particular, an impression is sought to be created that the noting was in response to the Prime Minister being informed of steps being taken which he knew were inappropriate but he looked the other way.

3. The note of the Prime Minister's Office, on which the above noting was recorded, proposed consideration of an approach as follows:

a) Fix a 'threshold' level of spectrum that each operator must have in order to function with a minimum level of efficiency.

b) Existing operators holding spectrum above the threshold level may be allowed a certain amount of time to raise the subscriber levels to reach full utilization of spectrum, failing which the excess spectrum may be withdrawn.

c) New operators may be allotted spectrum only up to the threshold level on payment of the normal fees.

d) The balance spectrum may then be auctioned among all those who hold spectrum up to the threshold level.

4. It may be seen that the approach was intended to create a level playing field between existing operators and new entrants. It did not deal with either issues relating to manner of grant of licence or charges for spectrum up to the threshold level.

5. The proposal of the Prime Minister's Office was to forward these suggestions to the Department of Telecom for further consideration on the basis of individual consultations with the main players and TRAI.

6. It was well known at that time that there were conflicting interests between existing operators and new entrants. The Prime Minister felt that this matter required detailed examination and deliberation by the Department of Telecom in consultation with TRAI and others. He felt that, under the circumstances, it was not appropriate for the Prime Minister's Office to pronounce on the matter till the subject had been carefully considered by the administrative ministry in consultation with TRAI and other concerned departments. Therefore, it was sent as an informal suggestion to the Department of Telecom for consideration.

7. The above clearly brings out that the noting under question can in no way be construed to mean that the Prime Minister or his office looked the other way on matters relating to the grant of licence or spectrum charges etc. It related solely to the manner in which the approach summarized above should be conveyed to the Department of Telecom to be considered on merits without being viewed as a direction from the Prime Minister or his office.

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AUTHORS:  PMO 
PEOPLE:  A. RAJA | MANMOHAN SINGH 
TAGS:  SPECTRUM SALE AND SCAMS | PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (PMO) 
SECTION:  NATIONAL 
SUBSECTION:  OPINION
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ANNA BHAU SATHE Never Did Consider Freedom of Brahamins as Freedom of India! Read Mulnivasi Nayak!

ANNA BHAU SATHE Never Did Consider Freedom of Brahamins as Freedom of India! Read Mulnivasi Nayak!


    


    


    


    


    


    


    
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