2021 Political Highlights: 5 CMs quit, Farm laws rollback & Pegasus debate; here's a recap

CMs shuffled. Farm laws rolled back. Pegasus. 

Politics in 2021 mainly revolved around these words. This year, as India emerged from the first wave of the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19), it was pushed into a melee of controversies - from Farmer protest 'toolkit' to Pegasus snooping and finally, farm laws rollback. This year also saw the resignation of 5 CMs - Trivendra Singh Rawat & his successor Tirath Singh Rawat (Uttarakhand), BS Yediyurappa (Karnataka), Vijay Rupani (Gujarat), Capt Amarinder Singh (Punjab).

Here are the top 10 events in politics:

Greta Thunberg & Disha Ravi's farmer 'toolkit'

In the aftermath of the Republic Day violence, 21-year-old Bengaluru-based climate activist Disha Ravi was arrested on 14 February for allegedly disseminating the 'toolkit' related to farmers' protests on social media- the same one shared by climate activist Greta Thunberg. The Delhi police alleged a large conspiracy against the government of India to rebuild the Khalistan group via the toolkit and claimed that there were thousands of people involved in it. In her defence, Disha Ravi claimed that she had edited just two lines of the toolkit and said that she was influenced by the farmers' protests and thereby extended her support to them. Ravi was granted bail ten days later by the Supreme Court.

Justifying her arrest, many BJP leaders condemned the 'toolkit'. 3-time BJP MP P C Mohan likened avi to terrorists - Ajmal Kasab and Burhan Wani - whom he pointed out were 21, while Haryana minister anil Vij had tweeted for 'eradication of those who thought against the nation, be it Disha Ravi or anyone else'. Defending Disha Ravi, many Opposition leaders - Asaduddin Owaisi, Mamata Banerjee, Jairam Ramesh, Manish Tewari condemned the high-handed arrest by Delhi police in Bengaluru

Disha Ravi's toolkit was created by the pro-Khalistani poet group 'Poetic Justice Foundation' (PFJ) that was shared by Thunberg, titled 'Global Farmers Strike- First Wave', which seems to have been in circulation since early January. It had encouraged people to organise solidarity protests either at or near Indian Embassies, local government offices or offices of various multinational Adani and Ambani companies. It also urged people to participate in the farmers' tractor rally on Republic Day - which had ended in violence - killing one farmer and injuring 510 police officers. LThe updated 'toolkit' removed the Republic Day plan from the AskIndiaWhy's 'prior actions' - the 'plan' has now been denounced by PFJ.

Trivendra Singh Rawat, Tirath Rawat resigns, Dhami takes over

In March, barely 10 days of completing his fourth year as CM, Trivendra Singh Rawat tendered his resignation as several MLAs had reportedly expressed dissatisfaction with Rawat. Sources reported that Rawat had chalked out a plan to hold the Maha Kumbh in a restrictive manner, irking saints in the hilly state. Rawat also gained infamy with other moves like - bringing 51 temples under govt control with Devasthanam Management Act and making Gairsain a commissionerate.

His successor Tirath Singh Rawat created controversy with his remarks - objecting to women's ripped jeans, likening PM Modi to Lord Ram. In July, Rawat, resigned citing 'constitutional constraints' - the state was unable to hold bypolls amid COVID and Rawat was a Lok Sabha MP. 45-year-old Pushkar Singh Dhami took over as the new Uttarakhand CM - mere months ahead of state polls in 2022.

Lakshadweep controversy

In May, the tiny island of Lakshadweep was mired in controversy after its administrator Praful Khoda Patel made sweeping changes in the union territory. Opposing the new rules, MPs from Congress, NCP, Makkal Needhi Maiam and CPI(M) joined locals in demanding a recall of Patel and his 'anti-people' policies. Opposition has claimed that Patel was trying to “saffronise the island” where almost 95% population is Muslim, but Kerala High Court refused to stay the orders.

Among the controversial orders are - Altering COVID SOPs leading to COVID case surge, Ban on the slaughter, transportation, buying and selling of beef products, Lifting the ban on alcohol consumption, Demolishing the sheds where fishermen stored nets and other equipment citing violation of the Coast Guard Act, A new Goonda Act, Disqualifying Panchayat members with more than two children from elections, Mandating the use of Mangalore port instead of the Beypore port for freight transit & Termination of casual and contractual labourers' jobs in govt. Locals have staged multiple protests under sea, on roads, maintained bandhs, demanding a recall. While the island's collector S Asker Ali touted Lakshadweep as the next Maldives, Home Minister Amit Shah has assured that he will be resolving the locals' concerns.

PM Modi meets J&K leaders in Delhi

In June, after almost two years of revoking Article 370, PM Modi met with 14 J&K politicians in Delhi. The attendees were - NC president Farooq Abdullah, NC vice-president Omar Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, CPI(M) leader MY Tarigami, Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ghulam Ahmad Mir and Tara Chand, J&K Apni party supremo Syed Altaf Bukhari,  JKPC leaders Sajad Lone and Muzaffar Baig, Panthers Party chief Bhim Singh, BJP leaders Ravinder Raina, Kavinder Gupta, and Nirmal Singh. MoS Jitendra Singh, Home Minister Amit Shah and L-G Manoj Sinha were also present.

Congress, NC, and JKPC did not raise the matter of restoration of Article 370 in the meeting as the matter was sub-judice. In the meeting, Azad presented Congress' 5 demands to the Centre - the restoration of statehood, elections, restore domicile laws, return of Kashmiri Pandits to the valley and release of all political prisoners. Mufti had urged Centre to resume talks with Pakistan by restarting train services between the two countries and raised the matter of Article 370 in the meeting, stating that the people of Jammu & Kashmir are angry and upset after its abrogation in an 'unconstitutional, illegal and immoral' manner.

Assam-Mizoram dispute

On July 26, six policemen and a civilian were killed during the violent clashes broke out between forces of both sides at the border area shared by Cachar district's Lailapur and Kolasib's Vairengte. Over 50 police officers from Assam were critically injured. The violence led to a war of words and multiple FIRs between Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma and Mizoram CM Zoramthanga - each blaming the other of breaking the border treaty.

Assam claimed Mizoram breached the existing status quo by commencing the construction of a road towards Rengti Basti thus "destroying" the Inner Line Forest Reserve in the Lailapur area besides building an armed camp in the same vicinity. It claimed that the Mizoram Police opened fire on the Assam officials and civilians with automatic weapons including LMGs which resulted in deaths. However, Mizoram claimed that its police personnel fired at their Assam counterparts only after the latter launched tear gas grenades at them. After the intervention of Home Minister Amit Shah, both CMs agreed to resolve the crisis and both states' police personnel returned from the disputed spot, with CRPF taking over.

Cabinet reshuffle

In August, at the midway of PM Modi's second tenure, the Union cabinet was expanded and rejigged to induct 36 new ministers taking the total size to 77 - excluding the Prime Minister. With the exit of 12 Union ministers including Ravi Shankar Prasad, Prakash Javadekar and Dr Harsh Vardhan, top BJP MPs like Jyotiraditya Scindia, Narayan Rane, Anurag Thakur, Kiren Rijiju, Sarbananda Sonowal were inducted as cabinet ministers. The cabinet has also introduced the first-ever Ministry of Co-operation to provide a separate administrative, legal, and policy framework which will be headed by Amit Shah.

With a focus on youth, Mansukh Mandaviya has replaced Dr Harsh Vardhan as Union Health Minister, Kiren Rijiju replaced Ravi Shankar Prasad as Union Law minister, Anurag Thakur replaced Prakash Javadekar as Union I&B minister, Jyotiraditya Scindia replaced Hardeep Singh Puri and Dharmendra Pradhan replaced Ramesh Pokhriyal as Education minister. The inclusion of young blood has brought down the average age 58 and has diversified representation with 27 OBC, 8 ST, 12 SC ministers and 11 women ministers. In terms of experience & qualification, the cabinet has 13 lawyers, 6 doctors, 5 engineers, 7 civil servants and 4 former CMs, 18 former Ministers from states, 39 former MLAs.

Pegasus upheaval, SC order

In August, a bombshell report by sixteen media houses claimed that 300 verified Indian mobile telephone numbers were allegedly spied upon using Israeli surveillance technology firm Pegasus - which only has 36 vetted governments as its clients. As per a 'leaked' database, numbers of those allegedly spied upon include over 40 journalists, three major opposition figures, one constitutional authority, two serving cabinet ministers, current and former heads, and officials of security organizations and businessmen. The target also includes the eight activists currently accused of the Bhima Koregaon case. The report claimed that the leaked numbers mainly belong to ten countries - India, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Opposition MPs lambasted the Centre for not scheduling a debate on the Pegasus snooping row in either House, resulting in multiple adjournments and suspension of several MPs. The Centre has refuted the report calling it a fishing expedition. Centre explained that interception, monitoring and decryption is approved by the Union Home Secretary as per IT rules 2009 which ensures that any such procedure is done as per the law.

Later, in October, an SC-bench led by CJI NV Ramana constituted a 3-member  technical committee to probe into the spying allegations, with retired SC judge RV Raveendran overseeing it. The ommittee has been tasked to investigate if Pegasus spyware was used on phones or other devices of Indians, details of victims, steps taken by Centre in 2019 after reports of Whatsapp hacking, inquire if Centre, state govt or any govt agency acquired Pegasus and if any domestic entity/person used the spyware on citizens and whether this use was authorised. It has also been told advise on amendments to existing laws for securing privacy.

Yediyurappa & Rupani resign

In July, 78-year-old veteran Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa announced his resignation after he completed two years as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, breaking down publically. Yediyurappa had faced rebellion since he reshuffled his cabinet in January. Senior BJP ministers had to let go of several key ministries to the new inductees leading to discontent in the Karnataka BJP camp.  Several BJP MLAs have accused Yediyurappa of 'interfering in the affairs of his cabinet', repeatedly predicting a change in leadership. Yediyurappa had formed his government on August 26, 2019 with the help of 16 rebels who switched from Congress & JDS.

Yediyurappa was replaced by Basavaraj Bommai - a strong  Veerashaiva-Lingayat leader and a two-time MLC and three-time MLA from Shiggaon. Immediately, Bommai too faced cabinet expansion troubles and has been often summoned to Delhi. Though he has reached out to miffed leaders, many BJP leaders have rebelled against naming Bommai as the CM face for 2023 polls.

In September, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani submitted his resignation saying that he is ready to take new responsibilities in the party. Rupani, who has completed five years in the post, has been replaced 15 months before the elections. He was replaced by first-time MLA and ex-CM Anandiben Patel's close aide and a Patidar - Bhupendra Patel. Rupani himself replaced Anandiben Patel in 2016 ahead of Gujarat polls in 2017 and completed a five-year term.

Capt Amarinder Singh resigns, Channi takes over

In September, Navjot Singh Sidhu and his supporters rebelled against then-CM Capt Amarinder Singh moving the High Command claiming the party's 18-point agenda was not being fulfilled. After many rounds of talks, Congress High Command picked Sidhu as Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee chief, inspite of the CM's vehement opposition. Later, blindsided by the CLP meeting called without his knowledge, 79-year-old Capt Amarinder Singh tendered his resignation from the Punjab CM post. He has warned Congress chief Sonia Gandhi against making Sidhu as CM, terming him an 'unstable man' and pro-Pakistan, endangering security issues in Punjab's borders. The ex-CM has now launched a new outfit 'Punjab Lok Congress' and tied with BJP.

Singh was replaced by 58-year-old Dalit leader and Sidhu aide Charanjit Singh Channi. But since his appointment as CM, Sidhu rebelled against Channi as the new Punjab cabinet was finalised without his consideration. Sidhu also opposed the appointment of Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota and Amar Preet Singh Deol as the DGP and AG respectively over the links to the 2015 sacrilege case, resigning as Congress state chief in protest. While High Command urged Channi to not escalate the issue, Channi refused to do so - telling the same to Sidhu in a one-to-one meeting. He later caved in accepting AG APS Deol's resignation. Punjab goes to polls in February 2022.

Farm laws rollback, famers protest called off

In November, after a year-long protest by farmers, PM Modi announced that the Centre will officially repeal the three farm laws in the upcoming Winter session of Parliament. Addressing the nation on the occasion of Guru Parab, PM Modi lamented that one section of farmers remained unconvinced of the benefits of the Farm laws inspite of multiple rounds of talks. The Centre has constituted an agricultural committee to strengthen the Minimum Support Price (MSP) structure.

Later, Centre gave a written assurance to fulfill SKM's demands - MSP committee, withdrawal of cases, compensation and rescinding the Electricity Bill. Centre passed the bill for the repeal of the farm laws in Parliament on November 29 - the first day of Winter session in Parliament and was later got the President's assent. Buoyed by the victory, on December 11, farmers at Delhi's borders - Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur cleared the area and began returning to their home states after Sanyukta Kisan Morcha called off the farmers' protest. SKM has stated that it will review the status on January 15 to ascertain if the Centre has fulfilled its demands.

(Image credits: PTI/Republic)