HERE are reports of gangster shootouts every other week in Punjab. It has been a baptism by fire for the Congress government on the law and order front, and it cannot be said that it has met the challenge with the gumption required. Putting a stop to drugs within a month was another promise to which the government is being held by the Opposition. To be fair, the Punjab Police have had some successes with the arrest of a few notorious gangsters and jail escapees. But when the crooks brazenly carry out executions, it does no good to public confidence. The arrests in the drug trade have been unimpressive. It defies reason that only petty street peddlers and some of the constabulary were involved, but they are the only ones the police seem to be going after.Another, and perhaps even more worrisome, aspect is the spectre of Congress workers or known supporters being involved in attacks on SAD and BJP leaders and associates. A few have been murdered too. Most of the violence has been in attempts to take over control of truck unions or of village-level politics from the ousted ruling alliance. But it is indicative of the confidence Congress leaders have felt in taking the law in their hands. Some MLAs have even gone to the extent of directly threatening the police against harming their interests. It may well be said the present state of law and order is a legacy the government has received from the SAD-BJP dispensation. But it must ponder what calculations and interests produced that situation. The Congress in its euphoria over a sweeping majority runs a serious risk of going down the same path.Capt Amarinder Singh has made much of his ability to take bold decisions in the interest of the state. He would establish his credentials if he could ensure the police are able to reach the root of every tentacle of lawlessness. If that means making an example of certain fat but bad apples in his own party, the police or the bureaucracy, so be it.

Dialogue of the deaf

NITI Aayog crowd lacked focus

Sunday’s meeting of chief ministers arranged by NITI Aayog saw diverse ideas thrown around with an option to pick and choose. The BJP chief ministers read out their report cards expecting a pat or a word of approval from the Prime Minister. Their mind, however, was elsewhere. Most of them tweeted about “Antyodaya”, meaning “the rise of the last person”, because of its association with Deendayal Upadhyay, who was the subject of a four-day ongoing RSS seminar in the national capital. Prime Minister Modi was on a different planet where having simultaneous assembly and Lok Sabha elections and a shift to a new January-December fiscal year occupied his attention. In-between he praised states for sinking their differences over GST without listening, or responding, to the CMs beseeching him to make good in time their revenue losses on account of the GST rollout. Apparently on being prodded by the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister, Narendra Modi also remembered to make an appeal to the CMs to protect Kashmiris living in their states. The BJP-PDP coalition has been going through a rough patch of late and Mehbooba Mufti had to be pacified even if the platform was a little inappropriate. The PM also asked states to spend more on infrastructure. He spoke about hiking fund allocations to states, whereas CMs kept asking for more. The opposition CMs, notably the ones from Bihar and Tamil Nadu, complained of bias in fund allocations. The Himachal CM gave instances of fund squeeze under Central schemes. The Punjab CM kept up the pressure on a farm debt waiver, while seeking funds for border area development. It was left to Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan to question the replacement of the Planning Commission by the NITI Aayog and point out that the “space for constructive debate is shrinking” with forums such as the National Development Council and the Inter-State Council becoming almost defunct. Two years down the line the NITI Aayog’s role remains hazy and undefined. At the end of the day, it remains far from clear what we mean by “New India”.