Assam-Tripura information gap

By RK Rishikesh Sinha, New Delhi

Lok Sabha Election 2009 Special VIII

The participation of The Bishnupriya Manipuri in the largest exercise of democracy is indeed a matter of prestige and a milestone set in its journey. Its involvement in the 15th Lok Sabha election hasn’t been exclusive; it can’t be. However, the series of special seven power-packed articles do carry weight and uniqueness. Not only all the articles were timely released but it was published with some special objectives.

The objectives were:

(1) Self-reliance: The so-called media group national and regional, it has been seen, utterly fails to cater to a particular segment like us that has a divided population cutting across states/ constituencies. Here with these articles we have been able to cater content to the respective constituencies where we have a sizable population like in Guwahati, Silchar, Karimganj and in the state Tripura.

(2) Content-monotony: The articles break a sort of prevailing myth that only media houses have access to news-source. We can also access information/ news. (though it is publicly available).

(3) News and analysis: Chances are there that a mainstream media journalist will not write a copy that is of concern to the minority community like us. On the contrary, it is a concern for us and it matters a lot. So an analysis was done to bring forth the stands taken up by main national parties like Congress (I), BJP and CPI (M) on key issues like minorities and OBC.

(4) Bridge information gap: It is a cut-and-dried fact: people of Assam don’t know anything about Tripura and vice-versa. People of both the states live in an information-starved environment. The fault lies in our education system plus the minuscule role media plays in both the states. For us the United States seems nearer than Tripura or Assam.

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Tripura East constituency: Cash-rich Vs Cash-less

Lok Sabha Election 2009 Special – Part VII

Total 9 candidates are contesting from the Tripura East constituency. Out of these, financial and educational profiles of the 5 contestants have been taken. From the 5 contestants, the fight is absolutely between cash-rich and cash-less contestants.

Baju Ban Riyan (Age 67)
Communist Party of India (Marxist), Tripura East

Cash: Rs. 3,000
Spouse: Rs. 3,000

Financial instruments:

Rs. 2, 83, 345.28 (SBI Parliament Branch)
Rs. 3, 07,107.27 (SBI Agartala Branch)
Rs. 2, 00, 000 for 729 days (Special Term Deposit, SBI Agartala Branch)
Rs. 10, 00,000 for 4 years (Special Term Deposit, SBI Agartala Branch)
Rs. 5, 00, 000 for 4 years (Special Term Deposit, SBI Agartala Branch)
Rs. 5, 93, 627.01 (PPF, SBI Agartala Branch)
Rs. 10, 000 (KVP)
Rs. 1, 00,000 (LIC, Rs. 12,178 yearly premium)
Rs. 1, 00,000 (LIC, Rs. 14,768 yearly premium)

Pulin Behari Dewan (Age 69)
Bharatiya Janata Party, Tripura East

Cash : Rs. 10, 000

Details of immovable assets:

Agricultural land: 3 acres
Current market value: Rs. 12 lakh
Non-agricultural land: 6 acres tilla land
Current market value: Rs. 6 lakh

Buildings (commercial/ residential): Rs. 3 lakh (25 years old residential house)

Government dues: NIL

Educational Qualification: School Final (from BBI, Dharmanagar, North Tripura)

Diba Chandra Hrangkhwal (Age 52)
Indian National Congress, Tripura East

Cash: Rs. 750

Details of immovable assets:

Agricultural land: NIL
Current market value: NIL
Non-agricultural land: NIL
Current market value: NIL

Buildings (commercial/ residential):

One mud wall Residential structure built at a cost of Rs. 25,000 measuring 168 ft. occupied as permissive possessor located at Darchawi.

Loans from Bank: SBI Kumarghat Branch, North Tripura (Rs. 25,199.65 Amount outstanding as on April 2, 2009.

Government dues: NIL

Rita Rani Debbarma (Age 51)
All India Trinamool Congress, Tripura East

Cash : Rs. 1,000
Spouse: Rs.10, 000

Details of immovable assets:

Agricultural land: 1.60 acres
Current market value: Rs. 75,000
Non-agricultural land: NIL
Current market value: NIL

Buildings (commercial/ residential): NIL

Government dues: NIL

Education qualification:

Class VIII Pass from Kalaghachia SB School (1973)

Falguni Tripura (Age 42)
All India Trinamool Congress, Tripura East

Cash : Rs. 10,000

Details of movable assets: NIL
Details of immovable assets: NIL

Government dues: NIL

Education qualification:

Read up to Class VIII from Panjiham Class XII School, Karbok, Amarpur

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Tripura West constituency: Count number of digits

Lok Sabha Election 2009 Special – Part VI

Of the total 10 candidates participating in the election marathon from the Tripura West constituency of the state, here is a quick preview of the financial assets (and many more) of the 6 contestants which are in the fray. The number of digits presumably speaks a lot about them.

Arun Chandra Bhaumik (Age 63)
All India Trinamool Congress, Tripura West

Cash : Rs. 15, 000 (self)
Spouse : Rs. 10, 000

Financial instruments:

Rs. 10 lakh (LIC), Rs. 3, 50,000 (Fixed Deposit)
Deposits in banks, financial institutions and non-banking financial companies: Rs. 98, 801 (UCO Bank), Rs. 4,102 (SBI), Rs. 14, 780 (Tripura Gramin Bank), Rs. 7890 (T.Co-op)

Details of immovable assets:

Agricultural land: 0.33 acres
Current market value: Rs. 75,000
Non-agricultural land: NIL
Current market value: NIL

Buildings (commercial/ residential): Rs. 30,00,000
Houses/ Apartments : Rs. 1,85,000

Government dues: NIL

Educational Qualification:

School Final from Julaibari Class XII School in the year 1965
BA from Belonia College in the 1969
MA from Rabindra Bharati University in the year 1974
LLB from Calcutta University in the year 1974

Sudip Roy Barman (Age 45)
Indian National Congress, Tripura West

Cash: Rs. 65,000
Spouse: Rs. 45,000

Financial instruments:

Rs. 2,73,300 (Vijaya Bank)
Rs. 34,789 (SBI)
Rs. 1 Lakh (RBI Bond)
Rs. 2,00,000 (UTI-ETS Plan)
Rs. 3, 10,000 (NSC)
Rs. 1,00,000 sum assured (LIC, Rs. 6409 premium / Yr)
Rs. 3,00,000 sum assured (LIC, Rs. 23329 premium / Yr)
Rs. 5,00,000 sum assured (LIC, Rs. 8800 premium / Qly)
Rs. 722126.40 sum assured (Birla Sun Life Policy, Rs. 10326 premium / Qly)
Rs. 5,00,000 sum assured (Aviva Life Insurance, Rs. 50,000 premium / Yly)
Rs. 4,50,000 (Investment in Share)
Rs. 20,00, 000 (Fixed Deposit Punjab National Bank)
Rs, 5,00,000 (Fixed Deposit Canara Bank)
Jewellery (Rs. 1407473)

Details of immovable assets:

Agricultural land:
0.98 acre (Rs. 1, 25, 000, writ petition pending)
1.34 acre (Rs. 1, 00, 000, writ petition pending)

Non-agricultural land:

Rs. 1541667 (Barjala), Rs. 275080. (Rajarhat-HIDCO)
Current market value:

Government dues: NIL

Educational Qualification:
BE (Tripura University, 1989)
LLB (Tripura University, 1992)

Khagen Das (Age 71)
Communist Party of India (Marxist), Tripura West

Cash: Rs. 12,000
Spouse: Rs. 3,000

Financial instruments:

Rs. 1,00,000+1,00,000+Rs. 50,000+ Rs. 25,000 (SBI Agartala Branch)
Rs. 64,355 (UCO Bank, Agartala)
Rs. 5,00, 320 (SBI, Parliament House Branch)
Rs. 5,00, 000 + Rs. 99,372. 96 (Joint Deposit with Spouse)

Details of assets:

Movable : Rs. 14,51, 047.96
Immovable : NIL

Government dues: NIL

Educational Qualification:

MCom (Calcutta University, 1962)
BCom (Calcutta University, 1959)
Intermediate (Calcutta University, 1957)
Matriculation (Payalgacha High School, 1955)

Nilmani Deb (Age 55)
Bharatiya Janata Party, Tripura West

Cash: Rs. 12,000
Spouse: Rs. 3,000

Financial instruments:
Rs. 1,00,000+1,00,000+Rs. 50,000+ Rs. 25,000 (SBI Agartala Branch)
Rs. 64,355 (UCO Bank, Agartala)
Rs. 5,00, 320 (SBI, Parliament House Branch)
Rs. 5,00, 000 + Rs. 99,372. 96 (Joint Deposit with Spouse)

Details of assets:
Movable : –
Immovable : Rs. 28,02,287

Government dues: NIL

Educational Qualification:

BA (Calcutta University, 1974)
Higher Secondary (West Bengal Board of Secondary Education Calcutta, 1971)

Sanjib Dey (Age 32)
Nationalist Congress Party, Tripura West

Cash : Rs. 30, 000

Financial instruments: Rs. 500 (Deposit in Bank)
Jewellery: Rs. 15,000 (with spouse)

Details of immovable assets:

Agricultural land: NIL
Current market value: NIL
Non-agricultural land: NIL
Current market value: NIL

Buildings (commercial/ residential): NIL

Government dues: NIL

Educational Qualification:

Madhyamik (Berimura HS School, 1994)
Diploma in Mech. Engg. (Polytechnic Institute, Narsingarh, 2001)
One Year Apprenticeship Training (SDO, Mechanical Sub-Division No.1, 2002)

Parth Karmakar (Age 40)
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)(Liberation), Tripura West

Cash: Rs. 10, 000

Details of immovable assets: NIL

Agricultural land: NIL
Current market value: NIL
Non-agricultural land: NIL
Current market value: NIL

Buildings (commercial/ residential): NIL

Government dues: NIL

Educational Qualification: 

HS (+2) Passed (from Udaipur Ramesh HS School in 1988)

Coming Up: Tripura East constituency: Cash-rich Vs Cash-less

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What stand the national political parties are taking on insurgency, infiltration and on minorities/ OBC?

Lok Sabha Election 2009 Special – Part V

THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

The Indian National Congress became the nation’s dominant political party after independence in 1947. It returned to the 14th Lok Sabha as the single largest party after 8 years in the opposition. The party is currently the chief member of the ruling United Progressive Alliance coalition. It is the only party to get more than 100 million votes in the past two general elections (1999, 2004). The manifesto of the Indian National Congress for the 2004 Lok Sabha elections provided the foundation for the National Common Minimum Programme that formed the basis of governance during the past five years.

Party 2009 Manifesto 

On Terrorism/Insurgency:

• The party stands for zero tolerance policy and for an intelligent foreign policy
• It has already initiated the process of equipping the police and other specialist security forces with the latest weapons and technology to meet terrorism threat
• Will raise specialist battalions and positioned them in key locations across the country

Infiltration:

To check infiltration, the party will provide every Indian with a unique identity card after the publication of the national population register in the year 2011

Minorities/OBC:

• It stands for providing reservations for OBC students in all professional institutions
• It initiated measures to enhance scholarships for schedule castes, schedule tribes, minorities and OBC’s to pursue college and university education

BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is also a major political party of India. It is designed to represent the country’s majority community and centre-right in nature. The BJP was in power in alliance with several other parties from 1998 to 2004, with Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Prime Minister and Lal Krishna Advani as his deputy. It was the biggest constituent of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which currently is in the opposition.

The party supports conservative social policies, self-reliance, robust economic growth, foreign policy driven by a nationalist agenda, and strong national defense. The party has a strong relation with the Sangh Parivar, in which the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh plays a leading role.
The BJP is contesting the 2009 15th Lok Sabha election. It stands for three goals: GOOD GOVERNANCE, DEVELOPMENT and SECURITY.

Party 2009 Manifesto 

Terrorism/Insurgency:

• Revive the anti-terror mechanism
• Improve upon POTA to ensure it is more effective as an instrument of deterrence and a tool to prosecute offenders without innocent people being harassed; and, strengthen the operational role of the National Investigating Agency
• Completely revamp the internal and external intelligence agencies and review the existing system of coordination, convergence and dissemination of intelligence inputs
• A Digital Security Agency will be set up to deal with cyber warfare, cyber counter terrorism, and cyber security of national digital assets
• Coercive measures, including diplomacy, will be used to deal with countries which promote cross-border terrorism
• Coastal security will be strengthened for better patrolling of Indian waters and preventing terrorists from taking the sea route to enter India. A National Maritime Authority will be set up to coordinate coastal security

Infiltration:

• Will launch a massive programme to detect, detain and deport illegal immigrants
• Will review and improve border management. Punitive measures will be introduced to block illegal immigration
• The BJP will launch an innovative programme to establish a countrywide system of multipurpose national identity cards for tracking illegal immigration and thereby to ensure national security, correct welfare delivery, accurate tax collection, financial inclusion and voter registration

OBC: 

• The BJP is committed to the principle of Social Justice (Samajik Nyay) and Samajik Samarasata (Social Harmony).
• Will boost opportunities for entrepreneurship and commerce among Dalits, OBCs and other deprived sections of Indian society
• An ‘Extremely Backward Communities Development Bank’ will be set up for promoting skill enhancement through learn-and-earn schemes for their upliftment
• Will introduce education and job quotas on the basis of economic criteria for all economically weaker sections of society other than Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs, who will continue to enjoy quota benefits

Minorities:

• Will implement a set of policies committed to a massive expansion of modern education among Muslims, particularly for the girl child, through a new nationwide network of schools, in a public-private partnership programme
• Will provide capital assistance in new educational projects, both for basic and technical education, in low-income minority areas. Each project will be vetted for viability by a team of professionals within a maximum of six months
• The Ministry of Minority Affairs will be revitalized into a hub for economic projects specifically targeted towards employment creation. There will be special emphasis on crafts and small-scale industries that have been traditional employers of minorities

COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA (MARXIST)

The CPI (M) advocates an alternative political platform to form a non-Congress, non-BJP, alternative secular government. In 2004 election, the CPI (M) and the left parties extended support to the Congress – led UPA coalition to form a secular government at the center with the understanding that the UPA Government will implement it’s own Common Minimum Programme (CMP) but on July 9, 2008, it withdrew support from the UPA government after the Government decided to go ahead with the Indo-US nuclear deal.
The CPI (M) stands for increased allocations in agriculture, education and health. It emphasizes the pursuit of an independent foreign policy.

Party 2009 Manifesto 

Terrorism/Insurgency:

• Revamping the intelligence machinery and enhanced coordination between security and intelligence agencies
• The Federal Investigating Agency functioning without violating the federal structure and ensuring association of State Governments for investigation within a particular State
• Modernisation of the Police forces
• Strengthening of the coastal security system
• Amending the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act to remove draconian provisions like detention without bail for 180 days, three years imprisonment for withholding information

Infiltration:

• Emphasizes border fencing to be completed expeditiously

OBC/Minorities:

• Ensuring proper implementation of 27% OBC reservation in Central educational institutions; Extending OBC reservation to all private educational institutions
• Strengthening the National Commission for Backward Classes
• Simplifying procedures for issuing OBC certificates
• Forming an Equal Opportunity Commission with adequate powers to redress discrimination against minorities
• Formulating a sub-plan for the Muslim minorities to implement Sachar Committee recommendations
• Special initiatives in the sphere of employment, education and health to be undertaken targeting districts where the Muslim population is concentrated
• Earmarking 15% of priority sector lending by banks for the Muslims; subsidised credit to be ensured for the self-employed Muslim youth
• Special emphasis to be laid on the education of Muslim girls
• Promoting the teaching of Urdu in schools

Coming Up: 

Congress (I), BJP, CPI (M), NCP contestants from Tripura West; what is their status on assets, liabilities, criminal cases

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MapmyIndia’s elections website helps voters take informed decisions

Interactive maps, information and analysis about the elections helps users vote in the coming elections

New Delhi, April 14, 2009: MapmyIndia has just launched public service website http://elections.mapmyindia.com to help voters in India make an informed choice on issues that matter to them during the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, states in a press release sent to www.bishnupriyamanipuri.com.

Combining the power of MapmyIndia’s detailed and highly accurate India maps with exhaustive data on constituencies, like population, literacy ratio, area amongst others and information on parties, candidates and their track record, the elections website places a wealth of information and analysis for voters to refer to. For example, with the click of a button voters can view constituencies where candidates with cases pending against them are contesting elections on a digital map – red markers showing up against these on the map versus green markers for the others.

With the analysis page, visitors can slice and dice data as they like and bring up statistics like oldest and youngest MPs in the 2004 parliament, number of women candidates elected in the previous polls, public record of candidates, number of constituencies per city, social details about constituencies like working population, area and literate population amongst others. MapmyIndia has joined hands with NoCriminals.org in providing this information on candidates.

MapmyIndia has had earlier links with the election process as well. The highly popular Jaago Re campaign is powered by maps from MapmyIndia for displaying constituencies. For 5 major cities in India, MapmyIndia has also plotted polling booths in constituencies for Jaago Re, so that voters know where they can go to cast their vote.

One notable feature of the site is that of constituency boundaries being marked on the digital maps. Due to the constituency delimitation exercise since the last polls, voters now have a quick reference to see which polling booth they can go to cast their vote.

The site also serves as an effective platform for agencies, parties, party supporters and general citizens to get quick analysis results.

“MapmyIndia has always been a socially conscious organization and has made available access to high quality data like driving directions or location of nearest points like hospitals, ATMs, etc. For the upcoming Indian elections, MapmyIndia wants to play a role in strengthening Indian democracy by providing the electorate a freely available source of information at our portal so that users can cast their vote after analysis of relevant information on their candidates and constituencies,” says Rakesh Verma, Managing Director, MapmyIndia.

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Financial crisis, Indian economy, Goods & services, smes: where do national parties stand?

Lok Sabha Election 2009 Special – Part IV

What the manifestos of national parties (Congress (I), BJP and CPI (M)) are mentioning on various serious issues like financial crisis, growth of Indian economy, goods and services and on the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of the country?

Click Manifestos

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List of contesting candidates from Gauhati Lok Sabha Constituency

Lok Sabha Election 2009 Special – Part III

Candidate of Recognized National and State Political Parties

(1) Akshay Rajkhowa (Nationalist Congress Party)
(2) Bijoya Chakravarty (Bharatiya Janata Party)
(3) Capt. Robin Bordoloi (Indian National Congress)
(4) Sonabor Ali (Assom United Democratic Font)

Candidate of Registered Political Parties.(Other than recognized National and State Political Parties)

(1) Ambu Bora (Revolutionary Communist Party of India (R.B.))
(2) Deepak Kalita (Samajwadi Party)
(3) Shimanta Brahma (Rastrawadi Sena)

Independent Candidates

(1) Amit Barua
(2) Kazi Nekib Ahmed
(3) Dr. Deva Kanta Ramchiary
(4) Brijesh Roy
(5) Rina Gayary Das

Next: Financial crisis, Indian economy, Goods & services, small & medium enterprises: where do national parties stand?

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3 candidates from registered parties and 11 independents contesting in Karimganj (SC) Parliamentary Constituency

Lok Sabha Election 2009 Special – Part II

Karimganj (SC) Parliamentary Constituency

(1)Name of Candidate:
Rajesh Mallah

Party affiliation:
Assam United Democratic Front

(2)Name of Candidate:
Lalit Mohan Suklabaidya

Party affiliation:
Indian National Congress

(3)Name of Candidate:
Sudhangshu Das

Party affiliation:
Bharatiya Janata Party

Independent Candidates:

1. Uttam Nomosudra
2. Joy Das
3. Debasish Das
4. Probash Ch.Sarkar
5. Bijan Roy
6. Bijoy Malakar
7. Malati Roy
8. Milon Singha
9. Ranjan Namasudra 
10. Rajesh Chandra Roy
11. Sital Prasad Dusad
12. Himangshu Kumar Das

Next: List of contesting candidates from Gauhati Parliamentary constituency

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List of contesting candidates from Silchar Lok Sabha constituency

Lok Sabha Election 2009 Special – Part I

Total number of candidates: 16
Candidates of recognized National and State Political Parties: 4

(1) Name of Candidate:
Kabindra Purkayastha

Party affiliation:
Bharatia Janata Party

(2) Name of Candidate:
Dipak Bhattacharjee

Party affiliation:
Communist Party of India (Marxist)

(3) Name of Candidate:
Badruddin Ajmal

Party affiliation:
Assam United Democratic Front

(4) Name of Candidate:
Sontosh Mohan Dev

Party affiliation:
Indian National Congress

Independent Candidates:

1. Kantimoy Deb
2. Chondan Rabidas
3. Jayanta Mallick
4. Jay Sundar Das
5. Nagendra Chandra Das
6. Nabadwip Das
7. Pijush Kanti Das
8. Manish Bhattacharjee
9. Yogendra Kumar Singh
10. Subir Deb
11. Sumit Roy
12. Nazrul Haque Mazarbhuiyan

Next List of contesting candidates from Karimganj (SC) constituency

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