Jaswant SINGH

Whenever I think of Sardar Patel his caste never comes to my mind. In fact, Sardar Patel or any leader with towering personality ceases to be a member from any caste or community. He or she is simply a great personality, not confined to shackles of caste and creed.

But the recent development in the BJP rather storm over the book on Mohammed Ali Jinnah which has mention of Sardar Patel too in it as responsible for partition of the country has led to some interesting analysis in a section of media. The conclusion drawn is Thakurs influence in the politics is on the wane and also that in the war of Thakur vs Thakur it is the Thakur 'kaum' which is at the receiving end.

Jaswant Singh who wrote the book and Rajnath Singh who took action against him are both are thakurs or Rajput in a more refined expression. Rajnath Singh is said to be under tremendous pressure to show he has some authority in the party. There is little likelihood of his retaining his post after January, 2010 after the organisational elections.

There are other leaders too in politics, as media analysis goes on, who are not enjoying the heyday in Indian politics. In Samajvadi Party, once the blue eyed boy of the SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav Amar Singh is still recovering from his illness. He is already facing a lot of heat from inside the party for his proximity to Yadav. In the Congress, Arjun Singh era is almost gone. Digvijay Singh seemed to be enjoying a comfortable position after the party' recovery of the sort in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh as he happens to be in charge of the state but there Rita Bahuguna Joshi has now stolen the limelight with her fiery attack against UP Chief Minister Mayawati. Now, Brahmins whose massive support to BSP earned the party clear majority in Vidhan Sahba seem to be rallying behind Joshi or this is what the Congress is planning to see.

Natwar Singh who embraced the SP after his exit from the Congress is nowhere in the scene.

In Madhya Pradesh another Thakur has lost his charm after Lok Sabha elections. The party's poor performance in Lok Sabha elections as compared to 2004 polls has eclipsed the image of Narendra Singh Tomar. He is also not likely to retain his seat the next year. Another Thakur Rampal Singh is also looking for political rehabilitation after defeat in a row in State Assembly election and Lok Sabha elections.

As the media's analysis goes on it remains to be seen how the Thakurs return with the bang to the political centrestage. It also remains to be seen how my friend MP Singh reacts to these developments.

Will the time come when we stop looking at the things without the prism of caste?

Nature and development

A visit to Kolar dam on Saturday filled me with thrill and excitement. The nature's beauty lies in bounty in the forest and reservoir, the lifeline for Bhopal, as Bhopal people get drinking water from the reservoir also apart from the upper lake.

Sometime back, a senior journalist sounded upset on seeing the Mall culture thriving in the cities. He asked why did we talk of concrete structures only when we talked of development. He also asked if we were really following any planned development theory. A building here and a building there. An office here an office there. A shopping complex here and a shopping complex there. So on and so forth.

I could realise his agony. I also believe in a planned development. To me, a civilised society can make a big progress in the lap of nature also.

Destroying the nature means denying ourselves the invaluable shield of nature what the God has gifted to us and what cannot be created artificially.

However, we have to strike a balance between development and the nature or in other words nature and development has to go together.

I cannot imagine a life isolated in forest devoid of roads, power, education institutions, health facilities etc. But I cannot imagine a life either fully soaked in modernity with no nature around.

That Madhya Pradesh's Shivraj Singh Chouhan cabinet chose a 'forest' at Kolar dam to hold its meeting and discuss the state's 'development' with a renewed zeal stemming from the nature's beauty abound at the site corroborates my point that development and nature have to complement each other.