The leaders of the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra are lucky that the people of Maharashtra have lost their spirit to fight against the injustice by the government or against its inefficiency. There was a time when people would come out onto the streets and outside railway stations, demanding good governance or agitating against rising prices.
They would protest the failure of the ministers in carrying out their duties and responsibilities. Today, the protests, if any, are by a handful of people, who take to social media, often with an eye on the number of likes/reposts or followers one gets for the posts. As a society, we have become impotent.
Taking advantage of the situation, leaders of almost all political parties spend their time criticising their rivals or in making charges against them. This is seen more between the leaders of the two factions of the Shiv Sena.
Even after nearly three years, the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena is not able to digest the split in the party or that the rival faction is still attracting leaders and followers of the Thackeray faction to join its fold.
The Eknath Shinde faction did get good success in the elections to the State Legislative Assembly, but such success is not guaranteed in the ensuing elections to the local self-government bodies in the state. Hence, the party and its leaders, including ministers in the current government, grab every opportunity to run down Uddhav Thackeray.
The Shinde group members seem to devote more time to spitting venom against Thackeray and Sanjay Raut than to their official work. Industries Minister Uday Samant, who was in Davos in January, was constantly on the television channels from there, speaking against Thackeray’s Shiv Sena and its leaders rather than about the investments he was able to get for the state.
As a part of the campaign, state Legislative Council’s Deputy Chairperson Neelam Gohre made a charge against Uddhav Thackeray that to get an important role in the party, a person has to give two Mercedes cars to him. On one hand, her charges expose her political immaturity, and on the other, by making such a charge, she acknowledges that she and the others in her party, including her leader Eknath Shinde, are party to such acts of corruption.
People would have given more credence to her allegation had she said that either money or gold is sought by Thackeray. If her charge was true, Thackeray would have had to establish a huge parking lot to keep his numerous Mercedes vehicles, as he has been instrumental in sending numerous members of the party to the Rajya Sabha and has given tickets to party members for various elections. People have also been appointed to key positions in the party and its frontal organisation.
Gohre, herself a defector to the original Shiv Sena, has been a beneficiary of key posts, becoming a member of the state Legislative Council four times. She has contradicted her charges by stating that she did not have to meet any such demand.
This is neither a brief for Uddhav Thackeray nor a bonafide certificate to him. The way most political parties spend money, it is clear that all the sources of the parties’ funding are not clean, and both the factions of the Shiv Sena are no exception to it. Almost all the leaders of the Shiv Sena have a rags-to-riches stories; there is a reason to question their financial progress, as the party does not have a magic wand to make money flow into the coffers of its leaders.
Gorhe, being the Deputy Chairperson of the Legislative Council, is expected to stay away from party politics. By making the charges, she has invited trouble, as Sanjay Raut has not only called her useless but has made a serious allegation that Gorhe takes money to allow members to raise questions in the House. This is a serious charge and could invite a Privilege Motion, the way journalist Prakash Gupte was found guilty and sent to jail for making a similar statement in the mid-eighties of the last century. But neither Gorhe or her party will bring a Privilege Motion against Raut, lest he speaks out more before the Privileges Committee.
It is clear from these brickbats being hurled at each other that leaders of both the factions of the Shiv Sena are aware of the acts of corruption by those in the rival factions. All of them were silent on the matter as long as they were together. This shows that they are not for clean politics but for settling scores.
While all this mudslinging is happening outside the government, it is not smooth sailing for the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra, comprising the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde) and the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar).
Eknath Shinde, who feels he has not got his proverbial pound of flesh, is sulking and has kept away from a few meetings and functions, apparently to snub Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. A creation of Devendra Fadnavis, who organised Shinde’s rebellion in the undivided Shiv Sena, Shinde has now become a Frankenstein’s monster for the former. Power has gone to his head, and he has stated that he should not be taken lightly. Little did he realise that he was challenging Fadnavis and his party and not Uddhav Thackeray. Thackeray can only retort to Shinde’s verbal attacks, but that is not the case with Fadnavis and his party. Both are known to be vicious.
Fadnavis has ordered probes into several decisions taken by Shinde when he was the chief minister on the grounds that they raise doubts of corruption. It is most likely that the findings of the probes will not come out ever but will be used to control Shinde.
If Fadnavis is serious about a clean administration, he should have expelled Dhananjay Munde, who is embroiled in controversies, from the state cabinet.
The author is a senior journalist and media trainer. He tweets at @a_mokashi
