Political line | Local, national and anti-national

To be or not to be – like Kerala

This week, the entire newsletter is devoted to issues related to federalism – the relationship between the center and the state and the organizing principles of India as a nation. So I’m not singling out a separate segment of the Federalism Tract.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded to Rahul Gandhi’s Congress speech on federalism and diversity by calling it separatist and divisive; Mr. Modi also said that “urban Naxals” have taken over the Congress party.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the Rajya Sabha on February 8, 2022. Photo: Twitter/@narendramodi

Uttar Pradesh BJP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has warned voters in the state that it could turn into the next Kashmir, Kerala or West Bengal. This would be better for the people of UP, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and former Jammu and Kashmir CM Omar Abdullah replied in their own individual style. These three perform much better than UP in all human development indices in Niti Aayog’s national rankings. What is common between the two states and the union territory that caught the UP CM’s attention? One does not know. Kerala, West Bengal and Jammu and Kashmir have the highest proportion of Muslims in the country and wield relative political power.

Jobs for locals

The Haryana government has moved the Supreme Court to restore a state law that reserves 75% of private jobs of a certain level to domiciles after the Supreme Court banned it. The state has a coalition government led by the BJP and the party publicly espouses the “one nation” policy. Haryana is not the first state to pass laws that reserve jobs for locals. Such laws challenge the concept of India as a nation — where citizens have constitutionally guaranteed rights that are limited by residence only in rare cases. This article discusses the constitutional issues arising from Haryana’s nativist politics. This article also points out that the same considerations for reservations may not be equally applicable in education and employment.

Meanwhile, the Haryana government is moving towards a new law to restrict religious conversions.

Closing NEET? Not quite

Tamil Nadu’s attempts to restore its powers over medical college admissions in the state continue despite opposition from the governor. The State Assembly passed the NEET Exemption Bill to regain its powers for the second time after it was returned by the Governor. The national admission policy goes against the spirit of federalism and social justice, Chief Minister MK Stalin told the State Assembly. He also said that the sovereignty and rights of the Tamil Nadu legislature must be preserved. A brief background and arguments of the state can be found here , in Mr. Stalin’s own words.

Now that the bill has been reauthorized, what can or will the governor do? Will it be a conflict between the Center and Tamil Nadu? Under the Constitution, the President has the power to delay or withhold assent from a bill. The role of the Governor and the President in this process is explained in this work.

For a broader discussion on the role of governors and their relationship with chief ministers, read this.

Delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir

The process of redrawing the political map of Jammu and Kashmir is underway. Regional parties in the Union Territory fear that the proposed UT electoral map is aimed at reducing the political influence of Muslims in the valley.

NK members are protesting against the proposal of the delimitation commission. | Photo credit: S. Irfan

According to the draft report, the valley, which has 56% of the population, has 52% of the assembly seats (47 out of 90 seats); the Jammu region, which has 44% of the population, gets 47% of the seats. This was justified by such reasons as the remoteness of the place. See this explainer for more details.

Language questions

A DMK member demanded in the Lok Sabha that answers to questions asked in English must be in English.

The secret invasion of Hindi in the slots occupied by Malayalam programs from the Thiruvananthapuram station All India Radio resulted in protests.

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Published – February 12, 2022 12:03 PM IST