செய்தியாகும் தகுப்பாடு இல்லாத ஒரு செய்திக்கு, உரியதற்கும் மேல் முக்கியத்துவம் கொடுத்து, வேறுவகை பிரதிப்லன் பெற்றுக் கொண்டு வெளியிடுவதை பெய்ட் நியூஸ் என்று வகைப்ப்டுத்திக் கொள்ளலாம்.
டெக்கான் கிரானிக்கிள் ஆங்கில நாளிதழின் 10 04 2011 நாளிட்ட இதழில், கார்த்தி சிதம்பரத்தின் விரிவான பேட்டி இடம்பெற்றுள்ளது. தேர்தல் அறிக்கையில் இலவசங்கள் குறித்து அறிவிப்பதும், பின் ஆட்சிக்கு வந்ததும் இலவசங்களை அளிப்பதும் ஒன்றும் மோசமான பொருளாதரமாகக் கருதப் படாது என்று வாதிடும் இந்த நேர்முகம், சுமார் அரைப் பக்க அளவு தலையங்க்த்திற்கு எதிரான பக்கத்தில் அதீத முக்கியத்துவத்துடன் வெளியிடப் பட்டுள்ளது.
கார்த்தி சிதம்பரத்தின் இந்த நேர்முகம் குறித்து அறிமுகபப்டுத்தும் பகுத்யில், அளவுக்கு அதிகமாக கார்த்தி சிதம்பரம் புகழப்பட்டுள்ளார். தமிழ் நாட்டில் இவ்வகைக் கலாச்சாரத்தை அறிமுகப் படுத்தும் பெருமை ஆங்கிலப் பத்திரிகைகளில் டெக்கான் கிரானிக்கிளையும், தமிழ்ப் பத்திரிகைகளில் தினமலரையும் சேரும்.இந்திய ஜனநாயகக் கட்சி எனப்படும், ஐஜேகே கட்சியின் நிறுவனரும் எஸ் ஆர் எம் ப்லகலைக் கழக முதலாளியுமான பச்சமுத்து குறித்து தினம்லர் அதீத முக்கியத்துவம் கொடுத்து செய்தி வெளியிட்டு வருவது இவ்வகையிலேயே சேர்க்கப் பட வேண்டும்.
டெக்கான் கிரானிக்கிளில் வெளிவந்த செய்தி. :
‘Freebies is not bad economics’
Karti, as he is popularly known, claims in an interview to R. Bhagwan Singh that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-Congress-Pattali Makkal Katchi-Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi alliance will win “comfortably”, but is unwilling to comment on whether Congress will be part of a DMK-led government.
Q. There is widespread talk that AIADMK chief J. Jayalalithaa is coming back to rule. How do you react to this?
A. This is just media creation. Many newspapers and magazines are writing in her favour, but the ground situation is different.
Q. What’s the ground situation? With the polls just days away (April 13), how do you find the voter responding to your alliance (DMK-Congress-PMK-VCK)?
A. I toured the Tirupur South constituency extensively Thursday night campaigning for our Congress candidate, deputy mayor Senthil Kumar. I was overwhelmed by the response from the electorate. It was very positive and very vibrant. I have toured in certain pockets (of Tamil Nadu) and the response is similar everywhere.
Q. How many seats would you give your alliance (out of the total 234)?
A. It is very difficult to come up with a specific number but we hope to win significant number of seats if not all. Our alliance would be in a position to comfortably form the government.
Q. Aren’t the issues of 2G spectrum scam and the Opposition’s charge that the DMK’s first family is controlling most businesses, hurting your alliance campaign?
A. One must clearly understand the contrasting fashion in which the two formations have reacted to corruption charges. The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance has always relieved people facing allegations and has not deployed any delaying tactics in facing enquiry or court trial. But everyone knows how Jayalalithaa responded to the charges against her, how she delayed the conduct of cases against her in various courts. People clearly see that we are not ducking any issue and are facing them all head-on. I think deliverance of governance is far more significant than rhetorical allegations.
Q. The Congress, once again, is hit by faction feuding and your party’s state president (K.V. Thangkabalu) has been at the centre of a controversy about how he ended up being the Mylapore candidate after his wife’s candidature was rejected. Doesn’t all this hurt your party’s image at poll time?
A. Seat allocation is always a contentious and highly competitive affair. But these emotions will not affect the poll outcome.
Q. Do you think Mr Thangkabalu should have focused on the entire state instead of tying himself up to Mylapore (in Chennai)?
A. I am not too sure about that. Anyway, we have other leaders touring the state — the home minister (P. Chidambaram), the shipping minister (G.K. Vasan) and Congress general-secretary Rahul Gandhi have significantly covered the state, besides the Prime Minister and the finance minister. Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has also participated in rallies at Chennai and Puducherry.
Q. As a young educated entrepreneur, how do you view this flood of freebies? Will they not hurt the economy in the long run, weaken human resources…?
A. We must not confuse populist measures as bad economics. Distribution of wealth and services in an accelerated manner through populist schemes has its benefits. One never questions why a tax sop of `45 crores was given to the cricket World Cup. But the minute some direct benefits are given to the people of the lowest strata of society, it is immediately questioned by the urban elite. I think there are great benefits in populist schemes and they are also drivers of the economy — by giving cheaper rice, you are leaving more money in the hands of the consumer to buy other things; by gifting TV sets, you are encouraging the manufacture of TV sets and thus help their manufacturers, suppliers and retailers; by giving free cycles, you are encouraging the cycle manufacturing industry. We should not view populist schemes from the prism of the urban elite.
Q. Should the DMK-led alliance win this poll, will the Congress be part of the emerging coalition government?
A. That depends entirely on the poll result and the respective strengths of the various parties. It is rather premature to answer your question right now. But through your newspaper, I would like to urge everybody to go and vote on the polling day. There are many people in the world who are struggling to get their right to vote. Recent incidents in West Asia and north Africa are ample evidence, whereas we have this right and the privilege as a given.
Q. What in your view are the main issues before the Tamil Nadu electorate in this election?
A. The issue is whether the people want a government which delivers or a disposition which merely promises. You must compare the track record of the 2001-06 disposition headed by AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa. Can people recollect just one important programme or scheme during that period? Compare her track record with the DMK’s work during 2006-11, when all the election promises were fulfilled — subsidised rice, free colour TV sets — and significant social programmes like the health insurance scheme, housing scheme, pregnancy benefit scheme, marriage assistance scheme, 108 ambulance implementation, old age pension scheme were implemented. Even the worst critics of the DMK will admit that all the promised welfare measures have been delivered. This coupled with the Central government’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, farmloan waiver programme and the student loan programme, have delivered benefits and services directly at the grassroots level. People will surely evaluate the performance of the two governments.
Secondly, the AIADMK alliance is not a cohesive one. It is an alliance in which the principal leaders of the two parties, Ms Jayalalithaa and Vijayakanth (Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam), are unwilling to even share a platform. As far as I can recollect, there has been only one instance when they met during the seat-sharing talks. How can the people expect these two leaders to work together in the future when they are unwilling to meet, consult or discuss any issue? This is, in fact, a recipe for disaster. One must give credit to the seasoned politician Vaiko for stating the obvious: that Jayalalithaa has not changed and is incapable of changing. Also, this election campaign has seriously exposed the temperamental makeup of Vijayakanth. His antics and behaviour on public platforms raise questions about his ability to perform in a collaborative political environment. His mannerisms, utterances and proclamations raise serious questions about his fitness for public life.
Source : Deccan Chronicle.com
No comments:
Post a Comment