Devendra Fadnavis, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, has showed his distinctness with his measured yet aggressive response to an open letter written by journalist Rajdeep Sardesai. This was not a unique action as many politicians of yore had taken to writing articles in the newspapers to articulate their position. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee even penned long muse when he was mired in political controversies and problems. However, what makes Fadnavis stand out is that he has taken to the medium often used against him for last one year and while defending his own position, he has put forward the work he was doing. This would serve not only in taming the hostility of the media towards him, in particular, and his government, in general, but also soothing his political ally Shiv Sena which is in the government bashing mode ever since it decided to share power.
Sardesai, often seen as an adversary of the Hinduist ideology which Fadnavis adheres to, had targeted Fadnavis of failing on many counts and letting down those who had hopes in him. "I was one of those who expected a lot from this leader who come to power with his youth and vision," Sardesai wrote. He had taken up mainly three points which underlined, in his eyes, the hopelessness of the present government. These points were - ban in certain municipal corporation limits on sale of the meat to be enforced for eight days during the Paryushan Parva of Jain community; transfer of Rakesh Maria, the Commissioner of Police, Mumbai during the course of investigation in high-profile Sheena Bora murder case, ostensibly to curtail the probe and third was a recent circular issued by the government which allegedly allowed the police to frame sedition charges against anyone who would criticize the public representatives. The letter was published in English, Hindi and Marathi publications as well and received due attention.
This ruffled quite few feathers in Bharatiya Janata Party and it was felt that this attack must be countered. But no one expected that CM himself would lead from the front and give a befitting reply to a journo with a stature such as Sardesai has.
That the CM replying to an open letter was itself a novelty. But Fadnavis added another dimension to it by twisting the reply and coloring it in an Urban-Agrarian conflict. His terse sentence that 'I am more concerned with providing food to the drought-hit farmers than filling your plate with non-veg' is a classic example of how a politician, even when well wishing and sincere, can turn any debate in his or her own stride. The BJP has outfoxed Congress with great cunningness in recent times because of this type of willy politicians. In fact, Congress is now almost bereft of clever leader who could mould the discourse any way they like.
The Twitter was abuzz with the development and the hashtag #DevendraSlapsRajdeep remained among top trends for two days. Various groups on WhatsApp were replete with the text of the letter. It took 24 hours for Sardesai to reply to CM's letter but in his immediate reaction, he just tweeted -
Whatever the outcome of the debate, one thing is sure - that this BJP government is a different pot to handle for the critics and it is going to break more norms in the future.
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