While the ruling tripartite alliance in the state was formed to keep away the BJP away, strangely, this government is seen to be toeing the BJP line. Many ministers have dropped probes of BJP leaders against whom they had unearthed allegations of manipulation and corruption.
Shiv Sena member of Parliament and spokesperson Sanjay Raut has proclaimed that the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government will complete its full five-year term. Well, that is a long way ahead. So far, it has come well ahead of the ‘shortest-lived’ standard set by the 13-day National Democratic Alliance government in 1996. The one trend noticeable with this tri-party government is the double talk the government indulges in, often leading to its actions being completely contrary to its loud proclamations.
MVA government had rattled under the pressure of Sushant Singh’s death wherein Mumbai police and few leaders of Shiv Sena were being shown in poor light. But again, this MVA failed to stand by the force and its investigations. When one expected the government would come out in full force, it seemed like it had gone into a huddle and while it did so, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s information technology cell, which really needs some concrete work, went on a rampage– its main target being Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. So they know his weak spot, his star-struck son Aaditya. He has caused much embarrassment to his father and the government with his filmi associations, but then again, instead of coming out and strongly condemning the allegations, the government has ‘reacted’ to the actor who called Mumbai PoK.
What ensued was typical ‘Sena Raada’ that caused way more embarrassment to the government and it seemed to have lost all sympathy. But what seems to be the real danger is this government, while claiming to be an anti-BJP alliance, is actually toeing their line, be it the arrests of activists, professors and intellectuals in the Elgar Parishad case, supporting the exodus of migrant workers, or the farm reforms bill. The huge slip between the cup and the lip is glaring.
Farmers left in the lurch
Now, look at this: A former CM, who was also a former Union Agriculture Minister and is considered the last word on the subject in Indian politics, Sharad Pawar. We witnessed how his party, the Nationalist Congress Party, along with the Congress and Sena, strongly opposed the farm reform Bills. Yes, they joined ranks with the eight members of Parliament who were suspended.
What we have recently learnt is that Maharashtra has been one of the first states to actually enforce these contentious ordinances. In fact, in August, the state director of marketing has issued instructions asking for “strict implementation” of the three ordinances issued by the Centre which had preceded the recently passed farm Bills. This was done rather surreptitiously and what definitely needs to be investigated by the mainstream media is, whether the bureaucrat directly issued these instructions, without the knowledge of the CM or did the MVA government keep silent about it? The citizens need to know.
While we question this, a video of Pawar’s ‘Walk the Talk’ has been making rounds, wherein he has said the Agricultural Produce Markets Committee (APMC) has to be dismantled and more private players need to invest. Sure, because as it is many critics say it is only the rich farmers who are protesting. While that is maybe in Punjab, where farmers are rich, it is not the true picture of Maharashtra, where a majority of small landholding farmers are a reality.
In fact, after the immense protests by the farmers, the MVA government has publicly stated it will not allow the three Bills to be implemented in this state. All this, while the BJP IT cell is ready to unleash its own cooked-up data and memes to tear apart the MVA leaders. But Sharad Pawar has maintained a stiff upper lip throughout, with nobody questioning him on these ordinances or his views on privatisation of the agricultural sector.
Nobody’s workers
Speaking of the poor, one cannot ignore the fact this MVA government has handled the whole migrant workers’ problem without a modicum of sensitivity. The very fact they gave the space for rumour-mongering, allowing workers to gather at Bandra station in the midst of the corona pandemic, despite having complete control of the home ministry in the state, does not speak well of this government. In April, thousands gathered at Bandra having received SMSs saying the railways were running a special train, leading to pandemonium. The MVA government blamed the BJP and the railways (the Union Railway Minister is Piyush Goyal) for the fiasco.
Later, the MVA government was seen to be rather lenient in allowing the migrants to leave. This of course blended in with the sons-of-the-soil ideology of the Sena, that has a history of being anti-Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. By mid-May, as the state claimed it did not have enough food to feed the workers held in various camps and the lack of support from the Union government, it grew lax with pandemic protocols and allowed the workers to leave. The fact was that many states, like Gujarat, Tami Nadu, even UP and Bihar, had earlier refused to take back the migrant workers. The MVA government was seen to empathise with the workers, but critics felt the government could have done more.
Politics over real issues
Interestingly, many of the scams that leaders of the Congress and the NCP had raised from 2014-2019 when they were in the Opposition, have now been dumped in cold storage. Why do so especially now, when the leaders are ministers in the MVA government and could actually pursue such matters. It raises doubts on whether in politics, does anybody ever follow through with corruption cases that need to be thoroughly investigated. Of course, as regards the BJP too, we have seen time and again, they have followed the Congress legacy of sending agencies after many opponents.
In fact, NCP leader and Maharashtra Minister Nawab Malik had made serious accusations against the then CMO. He had alleged manipulation in the IT cell and named one officer on special duty a ‘digital dalal‘. Fadnavis headed the IT department and Malik had promised a probe if their party were to come to power. There were similar promises made in the case of the Samruddhi corridor and Jal Yukta Shivar (JYS), Fadnavis’s pet projects. In fact, the Congress and the NCP had raised serious doubts over the JYS project and claimed it was a waste of money. This was revealed even in the CAG report, released in early September, which said the scheme had made a little impact for the money spent. However, there was nary a murmur from this government, leave aside initiating any investigations for any lapses or discrepancies.
A promise is a promise, is a promise
Similarly, one has seen since 2018, the double talk by the NCP chief and this government over the Elgar Parishad and the Bhima-Koregaon riots case. It is no hidden fact the Sena has a congenital dislike of ‘Left’ ideology. It has condemned the claim made of the BJP government that the arrested ‘Urban Naxal’ activists wanted to overthrow the Narendra Modi government. After the violence in Bhima-Koregaon on January 1, 2018, the BJP government and Maharashtra Police had made such claims. In fact, prior to Sena’s condemnation, Pawar had, in fact, said there were no activists with any Naxal links in Maharashtra. However, the activists were not released and a year later, Pawar added another twist to this case, saying Pune Police’s action should be investigated thoroughly and he would request CM Thackeray to set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT). It does seem like typical Indian political tokenism. Again, earlier this year, Pawar claimed that Pune Police had wrongly arrested the activists, intellectuals, and academicians in the Bhima-Koregaon case. Immediately after that, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said he had sought a detailed report and asked police to provide proof against those arrested.
Meanwhile, more arrests were made and wait, yet again in September, Pawar mulled the setting up of an SIT probe. He even met the family members of the arrested activists. Lawyers and relatives of the few activists said it was time Pawar and this government stopped giving them false hopes, as they definitely did not see any scope for relief. In fact, the renowned poet P Varavara Rao, one of the accused, in this case, had tested Covid-19 positive in Taloja jail. He had been undergoing treatment in a Mumbai hospital in July, but his family was not allowed to meet him. However, the MVA government has tried to detach itself from this entire case and continue to promise an SIT probe.
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