Sushma succeeds Advani as LS Leader of Opposition

New Delhi

Putting all speculation to rest BJP stalwart L K Advani stepped down as leader of opposition giving way to Sushma Swaraj to become the first female politician to be appointed as the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha.

The 82-year-old veteran leader is elected Chairman of BJP parliamentary party. “This is a new chapter in my life,” said Advani, the author of “My Country My Life”.

"If they think that I will quit activeness and politics, then it is all wrong. I think that I became a rath yatri at 14 when I was just out of high school and became a Swayam Sewak.... This rath yatra would go on for life," Advani said.

In another top level changes in the party, Rajnath Singh quit as the party president. Maharashtra BJP chief Nitin Gadkari will replace him as the next president. The development in the party took place in consultation with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the party's ideological mentor.

Gadkari's elevation to the top organisational post in the party is expected to be announced after the party's parliamentary party meeting on Saturday.

The replacement of the top leaders has come at a time when the party is itself divided facing internal bickering and blame-game since BJP’s debacle in the parliamentary election. The generational change in the leadership also seemed inevitable to meet the future political challenges and to attract the young voters closer to BJP against the Congress advocating youth leadership.

Advani who scripted the rise of BJP from the mid-eighties could not fulfill his dream of becoming the prime minister in the 2009 parliamentary polls. Advani joined RSS in 1942 at the mere age of 15 and later associated with Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Advani was information and broadcasting minister in the Janata Party government. He became home minister in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in 1998 and served as deputy prime minister from 1999 and 2004. The BJP-led NDA remained in power at the Centre from 1998 to 2004.

Right to Education is now a reality

A new era begins with the approval given by the Parliament to a landmark Education Bill which ensures free and compulsory education for children in the age bracket of 6 to 14 years. The law is unique in the sense that no student will be failed till class 8th, including all government and private schools will have to provide 25% quota to “disadvantaged” children.

"This bill provides for the inclusion of children who are disadvantaged because of disability. The government is not only setting up special schools for them but doing all it can to provide education to them in all types of schools," said Kapil Sibal, Human Resource Development Minister.

As far as minority institutions are concerned up to 50 per cent of those seats could be offered to students from their communities. The curriculum would be less rigorous and it would ensure all-round development of children.

The law provides for building neighbourhood schools in three years whose definition and location will be decided by states. The bill aims to do away widespread practices by which schools impose admission fees on parents to guarantee their children a place.

The RTE (Right to Education) would empower the 86th Constitutional amendment that made free and compulsory education a fundamental right. The RTE bill sets down guidelines for states and the Centre to execute and enforce this right. Earlier, education was part of the directive principles of state policy.

The bill was passed by the Lower House (Lok Sabha). The bill was passed by the Upper House (Rajya Sabha) last month. The legislation will now soon be enacted after getting the assent from President Pratibha Patil. The finance will be managed by both the Centre and states. The Centre will prepare the capital and recurring expenditure and provide it as grants-in-aid to each state.