Mumbai: For once Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar spoke sense when he spoke out against UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s ‘Batenge toh Katenge’ remark. Pawar, who finds himself caught in a cleft stick, pointed out that it was an outsider who had made such a remark given that Maharashtra was a state that had a history of maintaining communal harmony.
There is little doubt that some of the greatest movements of social and political reform during the 19th century were witnessed in Maharashtra. Six of the key makers of modern India came from Maharashtra: Jyotiba Phule, Lokmanya Tilak, Gopalkrishna Gokhale, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, Tarabai Shinde and Hamid Dalwai.
But we cannot forget that Maharashtra is also the home of the RSS and its founding fathers, largely Chitpavan Brahmins, and it is this org.sation from which much of this divisive propaganda is presently emanating.
But Yogi Adityanath is an exception even to the tradition of the RSS where doublespeak is tinged with some caution. His political career has been built around the naked acquisition of power and his armoury comprises anti-Muslim speeches and strongarm tactics, to emerge as the poster boy of Hindutva.
Ahead of the Maharashtra election, posters featuring Yogi’s slogan came up in several parts of Mumbai. Initially, the BJP disassociated itself from the slogan claiming that these posters were not the doing of the party. But Yogi’s speech was followed by the PM, who while addressing a large rally in Dhule, used double entendre very effectively to state, ‘Ek hai, toh safe hai.’
Political commentator Sudheendhra Kulkarni pointed out that while using the word ‘safe’, the PM was issuing a warning that there is a threat to a section of Indian society (read Hindus) from within the country itself. Once again, the needle of suspicion is pointing in the direction of the minority community.
The fact is that Modi has been in power for the last decade and yet he is publicly admitting that he has not been able to make the country safe.
Not to be left behind, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis highlighted how the Muslims were indulging in ‘vote jihad’, probably implying how they would capture the votes of the public and this had to be countered by a ‘dharma yudh’.
The public is not happy with these comments largely because no one wants to see their lives being disrupted. Communal riots flared up in Aurangabad last year during the Ram Navami festival. Were it not for the timely intervention of AIMIM MP Imtiaz Jaleel, who sat on a fast outside the Ram temple where the skirmish occurred, the situation would have worsened.
In the run up to the election, AIMIM leader Asaduddin Owaisi gave a befitting reply to Modi’s pithy slogan stating, ‘Anek hai toh akhand hai’ (diversity brings strength).
Owaisi and other opposition leaders have brought a reality check to the communal rhetoric, stressing the misgovernance. “In Aurangabad, water supply comes once in 10 days for a period of eight hours. There has been a 15% cut in the agricultural state budget, 20% reduction in the health budget and similar cut in the state education budget. The ruling party needs to be questioned on their non- performance across all sections,” he said.
Opposition parties point out that distress is so acute amongst the farming community that 2,851 farmers committed suicide in 2023, with Vidarbha witnessing the highest, followed by Marathwada.
Political analysts believe the two issues over which the elections are being fought are distress amongst farmers, especially those growing soybean, and rising prices, with farm loan waivers not implemented. Although the farmers have had a good crop, prices have crashed and the government’s MSP of Rs4,892 per quintal is much below the farmers’ input costs which are over Rs7,000 per quintal. To add to their woes, the central government has been importing soyabean which is presently flooding the markets.
The other concern expressed by the influential 46.6 million women vote bank is rising prices. Sushma Patil, a housewife from Thane who has already received Rs7,500 under the Ladki Bahin scheme, believes political parties should focus on controlling prices of essential items such as groceries and transportation.
The most recent Lokniti CDS survey has highlighted how inflation and unemployment are the key issues facing the voters. The public is not interested in seeing the ugly face of majoritari.sm.
They also feel, to return to Ajit Pawar’s statement, “Maharashtra belongs to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj and Mahatma Phule. Shivaji Maharaj’s teachings were to take all sections of society along.’ How much weight this statement carries with the public is something we will come to know when the results come out on November 23.
