Maharashtra's Stale Politics

Ever since Prthviraj Chavan has taken over as the chief minister of Maharashtra, the politics of the state has become too stale and bereft of political drama. One reason behind this is that Chavan is not a shrewd and professional politician like his predeccecors Ashok Chavan and Vilasrao Deshmukh. He is more of a bureaucratic personality which pervades his political acumen. Much unlike his fraternity, he is not a public figure in the sense that he rarely is seen sorrounded by workers or common public. He has carefully placed himself away from the masses creating a halo around himself. Chavan has spent most of his tenure in centre and in that sense, he is yet to accommodate himself in the state's politicians.

In the initial days of his tenure as the CM of Maharashtra, Chavan was seen superceded by his deputy Ajit Pawar, who is a Nationalist Congress Party leader. Pawar had then conducted separate meetings with bureaucrats and appeared to have taken many decisions much against the wishes of Chavan. But soon, that euphoria also got disappeared. 

 

What we are now seeing is a kind of a boring drama where all the actors are just bidding their time before their final exit. Their body language gives an expression that they are not happy with the stage but their invisible director has forced them to show themselves before the audience, which in any way is not entertained at all.

It is not that Chavan himself does not understand this. But he is preoccupied himself with the task of appearing clean in the eyes of public which was least bewildered to see his predeccecor Ashok Chavan leaving his office in the aftermath of the Adarsh Society scam. Apparently, the Prithviraj Chavan's brief is to keep his party, Congress, away from scandals or scams. In the bargain, it is nobody's concern that performance is compromised.

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Will Prithviraj Prove His Mettle In Budget Session?

Chief Minister of Maharashtra Prithviraj Chavan is facing the budget session of state legislature first time since taking over charge of his post over 100 days ago. The timing is not so right main opposition party Bharatiya Janata Party is roaring with rants against the rule of Mafias in the state. On the other side of political spectrum, Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena are preparing themselves for the impending elections of Zilla Parishads and municipal corporations. The quadrangle is completed by Nationalist Congress Party which does not let go any chance of showdown against its ruling alliance partner.

Even though Congress enjoys the most MLAs and MPs from Maharashtra, it is still groping in dark because of lack of able leadership. CM Chavan, even though a good hand at the administration, has no nose for politics. Former CM Ashok Chavan was a seasoned politician who talked in same language with NCP when he lead the cabinet. However, he had to part with chair because of one of the worst scandals that hit the state.

Ashok Chavan resigned after it was surfaced that his relatives owned flats in the now infamous Adarsh Society. With this background in mind, it was completely obvious that Prithviraj chosed to play it safe. He ensured to create an image of Mr. Clean and reigned over the builders' lobby.

However, in his endeavour to mend the administration, he forgot to make it move. The administration came to a standstill. Now, the Congressmen themselves started to blame own government. On February 3, some 25 Congress MLAs held a meeting at former minister Baba Siddiqi's house. Those who attended the meeting criticised the tardiness of administration. Interestingly, Chavan was present in the meeting. 

 

Even as Prithviraj steered clear of corruption allegations and scandals, he could not evade the controversies. The state government first faced the ire of media and public when additional collector of Nashik,was burned alive by oil mafia Popat Shinde in Manmad on January 25. Last week, CM Chavan again found himself in thick of fire when Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh named him as culprit for appointing P. J. Thomas as Chief Vigilance Commissioner. Chavan, thanks to his academic skills and graciousness of PM, could avert the allegations. 

 

These chain of affairs has not helped the Congress party in view of impending civic bodies elections. Matters are made worse because CM Chavan is not elected to any house of legislature. Sanjay Dutt, the member of Legislative Council has shown readiness to vacate his seat for CM. But a definite course of events is still far away.

With Congree in search of impressive leadership and opposition's armoury full with weapons, the budget session is sure to prove a hard nut to crack for CM.

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After Chavan, Who?

Ashok Shankarrao Chavan is unarguably in the midst of worst crisis of his tenure as the chief minister of Maharashtra. The political pundits have already written his government’s obituary. It is only an impending visit of US president Barack Obama that has helped his survive at least for a week. The Indian National Congress cannot change the Maharashtra CM just before the US president’s visit to Mumbai, where the latter is to visit Hotel Taj.

What a coincidence it is, that it was political developments after the devastation of Taj that Chavan was catapulted to his present post. Till then, he kept a low profile in the state cabinet and working as minister of revenue, cultural affairs among other departments. When 26/11 happened, then CM Vilasrao Deshmukh showed lack of regard to the heightened sentiments of the common people and had to go when, in a utter disregard of political correctness, he visited Taj along with film producer Ram Gopal Verma.

Now, the same Taj has helped him retain in the chair at least for a week and there are slight indications that he may manage to evade the axe. The Congress has little choice in Maharashtra to replace Chavan. All the contenders of the post have inherent deficiencies, which can hardly be overlooked. For example, Narayan Rane, who has seldom hidden his aspirations for the post and went on the launch a little rebel against high command in New Delhi when denied the chance last time, was a strong candidate. But the timing of Chavan’s crisis went against him since he is already embroiled in controversy of land grabbing in Mahabaleshwar.

Rane is alleged to have helped his wife buy a plot in Mahabaleshwar, which falls under green zone. The recent controversy involving his son, Nitesh, is too fresh in the public memory. Nitesh was alleged to have fired gun shots at Chintu Shaikh, his former aide in Swabhiman Sanghatana. Rane had a hard time defending his and Ritesh’s position in case then. It was only when home department under R. R. Patil of Nationalist Congress Party gave a clean chit to Nitesh that the issue died down. But with allegation flying so fast, it is next to impossible for Congress to install Rane in Chavan’s chair. After all, what is the use of removing one tainted CM for another tainted one?

The same is the case with other contenders. Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushilkumar Shinde, both former ministers and now union ministers, figure in the Adarsh Society scandal. Their name is automatically deleted from the list of possible CMs. Also in Shinde’s case, the situation becomes more at odd since his daughter, Praniti, is sitting MLA. Beyond them, the Maharashtra Congress has no real leader to reach to state audience. In this critical situation, the party would not like to install someone like Patangrao Kadam, known for his sharp tongue and rustic manners.

Fortunately for Congress, the seat arithmetic is in its favour. Therefore, it has little to worry about the nuisance from his alliance partner NCP. Previously, NCP had claimed CM’s chair many a times, since it had more MLAs. However, in the last election, the tide turned to Congress side and it has got an upper hand. This has silenced the Sharad Pawar-led party, effectively putting the onus of appointing new leader on Congress only.

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Ignorant Lot Make Insensitive Statements

Where ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise. And where ignorant lot is given celebrity status, it is more so. Movie stars and Bollywood artists, who has become dear to media across the sub-continent were never famous for informed pronouncements. So it was hardly surprising when Salman Khan, least of all the uninformed and put-your-foot-in-mouth brigade went public with his completely misplace statements. Salman's statement is politically incorrect to the core, but what adds gravity of the situation is the fact is he spoke to a Pakistani channel.

It did not required a pundit to predict the uproar from all political quarters after the actor spoke what he should not have. Salman is notorious for being in soup many times on earlier occasions. A man who was accused of creating nuisance at his lover's house, making scene with colleagues at pub and most of all alleged to have killed deers while shooting for a film-is not expected to study the situation prior and after to 26/11 in Mumbai. The Pakistani media persons did their job skillfully. Now asking for an apology will do little good to Salman's image, adding one more embarrassment to his already overflowing repertoire.

During an interview to a Pakistani channel, Salman said that the 26/11 attacks were hyped up because "elite people" were targeted.

"It was the elite that was targeted this time. Five-star hotels and all. So, they panicked. Then, they got up and spoke about it. My question is why not before. Attacks have happened in trains and small towns too, but no one talked about it so much," Salman reportedly told Pakistan's Express 24/7 channel in an interview.

Salman's comments have been described as "anti-national" by parties like the Shiv Sena. Maharashtra's Chief Minister Ashok Chavan and Deputy Chief Minister Chagan Bhujbal, who will usually avoid making any comments where a Muslim actor is involved, spoke this time explicitly. According to Chavan,

“It doesn't matter whether a big or small person has died. It's very serious matter for the country when somebody loses his life in a militant attack. We need to work together to root out terrorism.”

Bhujbal, who called the statement "uninformed", was more to the point. He said:

"He is an actor. He does not have the information to make a comment on whether the Pakistani govt was involved or not. People travelling in taxis, constables, waiters, hotel workers, all lost their lives in the attacks."

Shiv Sena was more vociferous in its reaction, being a flag bearer of Hindu ideology. Party leader Sanjay Raut said,

The 26/11 attacks were a war against the nation. Salman should apologise for his remarks. Ambani was not staying at the CST, nor was Tata or Birla staying in Cama Lane

The Bharatiya Janata Party also criticised Khan for his unwanted comments. Ravi Shankar Prasad, BJP spokesperson, said:

26/11 attack was an attack on India. We cannot forget that Indian citizens were killed. This was not a small issue for Salman Khan to comment. This was an attack meticulously planned by Pakistan.

Special Prosecutor in 26/11 trial, Ujwal Nikam, described Khan's statement as naive.

It appears that without knowing the details of the terror attack, the actor made such statements," said Nikam, adding, "I shall say these are childish remarks. They (terrorists) don't make any distinction between rich and poor. It is judicially established that the outcome was a deep routed criminal conspiracy hatched in Pakistan and the targets were deliberately selected to wage war against India.

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Sorry Plight of Marathi Schools

Two separate agitations in two different cities in Maharashtra have brought to fore the sorry state of Marathi schools in the state. In an year when the state is celebrating 50 years of its formation, the government apathy is killing the language schools in favour of the English schools. The action of the government is in stark contrast to the numerous promises it has offered to public, both before and after the elections last year.

Thousands of students and teachers joined hand to protest against the closure Marathi schools on Saturday. “We have a right to learn through Marathi medium, the government can’t deny us the right to do so,” the statements written on the placards carried by students read.

The issue was first raised by Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthhi Sena, student wing of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. The porganisation first objected to a Government Resolution brought out by the state government on June 19 which made running Marathi schools in the state illegal. First the government invited applications from the willing school owners for permitting the schools. When it received 9,000 applications, it conveniently allowed other schools while denying the same right to Marathi ones. Not stopping at that, it even threatened with criminal action for running schools without permission. Almost 4,000 schools all over the state are now facing the axe putting a question mark on the fate of the students.

The activists and lovers of Marathi are obviously concerned over the manner in which their schools are being sent into obscurity in a systematic manner. The Chief Minister himself and his council apparently have misplaced their priorities. In a state where 13 members of legislature have been elected on a strong linguist agenda and rejuvenation of the Marathi culture is evident everywhere, symptoms of Macaulay's mentality will be hard to digest. It comes as no surprise then that the opposition is growing stronger day by day against government policy. The state government will have to mend his ways.

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Chavan In US, Signs Pact For Monorail Safety

Ashok Chavan, Chief Minister of Maharashtra today started his US tour with signing a pact with US-based Minata Transportation Institute (MTI) to introduce security of global standards in public transport in Mumbai, specially in view of the upcoming metro and mono rail projects.

A delegation led by Chavan, signed the memorandum of co-operation with Minata Transportation Institute (MTI) in Los Angeles, an official release said. According to claims by Chavan, an agreement will be made between MTI and Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA). This will be aimed at providing training in the field of passenger safety, training for passenger safety and use of modern technology.

The memorandum was signed by the Additional Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA, S V R Srinivas, Secretary to the Chief Minister, Nitin Kareer and the Executive Director, MTI, Rod Diridon in the presence of the Chief Minister.

Chavan is currently in the USA as part of three-nation tour. The pact is a major step towards strengthening the Mumbai metro and public transport security, the release said.

The ceremony was also attended by senior officials of Federal Transport Administration and Los Angeles, Metro Security Chief John Sullivan.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said the pact seeks to bring security and safety of global standards within the reach of Mumbaikars.

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Unchallenged Power Generates Internal Sparks

NEWS : Rift In Congress, NCP
The exchange of brickbats between Congress and ally NCP provided an added element of entertainment to the public. Added because the public is already burdened with the IPL tamasha and price rise in the market-is that anything lesser than a horror movie?

The inauguration of the additional carriageway of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link on Wednesday only brought to fore what was the  known to wide strata of public for long.  This was not the first time that Deputy Chief Minister Chaggan Bhujbal took potshots at the Chief Minister Ashok Chavan. The language he used at the ceremony was a veiled one. He had used much sharp and toned language during the cabinet meeting.

Bhujbal said that ministers ought to clear files and not sit on them. This was because Chavan had thwarted at least two attempts by Bhujbal to award contracts for big works to his prefered men.  Not a man to take it easily, Chavan retaliated by taking a dig at NCP ministers who headed Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) and said that there seemed to be preferential treatment for road-building in areas like Nagpur, Aurangabad and Beed where they hailed from.

The second leg of Bandra-Worli sea link was inaugurated yesterday. Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan  Superstar Amitabh Bachchan graced the occasion. Keeping in view the relation between Congress leaders and Bacchan family, Chavan took a dig saying, "I feel like coming to a fIlm awards function." The  ontroversy over Bacchan being invited for the inauguration function is still raging.

With opposition parties in Maharashtra more or less in slumber, the members of ruling combination have got a free hand. Not surprisingly, they have started fighting each other. After all, not long ago these two parties were avowing each other's credentials when they were pitted against Shiv Sena, BJP and MNS in the assembly elections. Whatever these senior leaders talked last night at Sea Link, had it any link to the common man?

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Government Sings MNS Song

As expected, the issue of taxi permits to only those who know Marathi has snowballed into a controversy. Hindi media has in its typical theatrical style found an analogy with the attacks on Indians in Melbourne.

This is the start of the morning and I am watching a Hindi news channel. The reporter is screaming, “Maharashtra government has issued this order on the basis of an old Act.” Probably the reporter or anybody on the editing desk have never heard about the Motor Vehicle Act, 1989 which is still in force. Compared to many laws in India, this Act is fairly new and updated. But the channel has to convey its point to some of equally ignorant audience and has to resort to half-baked information.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has got a shot in the arm with the government decision. Raj Thackerey can never thank Ashok Chavan more. The chief minister has handed Raj a perfect toy to play upon which is bound to provide a windfall in near future.

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Gear Changing Politics of Maharashtra

The Congress leadership in Maharashtra have once again demonstrated why the party is able to rule the state even after so many failures on many fronts. The government has succeeded in creating a issue which was non-existent, lending a hand to Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

Chief Minister Ashok Chavan backtracked from state government's decision of giving licenses only to those taxi drivers who know Marathi.  He said taxi drivers should know any local language including Hindi and Gujarati.

The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party government had decided yesterday to give new taxi licenses to only those well versed in Marathi and state resident the state for at least 15 years.

Yesterday's decision was seen as toeing the line of Raj Thackeray led MNS. That was sure to create harsh reactions, especially from media leading to the backtracking. Now, after CM's volte face, MNS adopted the aggressive posture. Raj Thackerey has threatened that no new taxi will be allowed to come on road if the license is given to non-Maharashtrians.

On the face of it, MNS and Congress will be biggest beneficiaries of the developments arising from this issue. The inherent politics seems push Shiv Sena to more marginalisation as Shiv Sena presents itself as the champion of the Marathi cause. Predictably, it has come with condemnation of CM saying that Chavan has degraded the post. In the days to come, more verbal duel will follow. 

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Two Regional Tracks Led To Railway Exmination Decision

The announcement by Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee that the railway recruitment examination in Marathi will be conducted soon comes as a boon for the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. It is nothing less than a victory for the party which was consistently harping on the issue. However, the decision could not have come had Mamata herself was not an avid advocate of regional politics.

Banerjee, who was in Mumbai yesterday to flag off new train services, announced that the Candidates can now give their exams in their regional language mentioned in Schedule I of the Constitution including Marathi. Banerjee, also said the exams will now be held in a single day and also announced concessions in terms of postal orders for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and economically backward class (EBC) candidates appearing for the recruitment examinations.

Earlier Maharastra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had urged Railway Minister that people domiciled in the state should be given local employment opportunity first. Against the backdrop of MNS manhandling candidates from North India appearing in railway exams in Maharashtra, this announcement was a surprise gift for MNS. Especially in view of Shiv Sena being in the thick after ransacking IBN-Lokmat, the news could have a music to the MNS.

Banerjee herself is a devout fighter for the cause of Bengalis. The Tata fiasco in Singur notwithstanding, she has projected herself as an advocate of Bengali cause. Kolkata being heavily filled with Bihari workers, it is not a coincidence that the moment for the decision come when she became the railway minister.

The announcement by Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee that the railway recruitment examination in Marathi will be conducted soon comes as a boon for the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. It is nothing less than a victory for the party which was consistently harping on the issue. However, the decision could not have come had Mamata herself was not an avid advocate of regional politics.

Banerjee, who was in Mumbai yesterday to flag off new train services, announced that the Candidates can now give their exams in their regional language mentioned in Schedule I of the Constitution including Marathi. Banerjee, also said the exams will now be held in a single day and also announced concessions in terms of postal orders for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and economically backward class (EBC) candidates appearing for the recruitment examinations.

Earlier Maharastra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan had urged Railway Minister that people domiciled in the state should be given local employment opportunity first. Against the backdrop of MNS manhandling candidates from North India appearing in railway exams in Maharashtra, this announcement was a surprise gift for MNS. Especially in view of Shiv Sena being in the thick after ransacking IBN-Lokmat, the news could have a music to the MNS.

Banerjee herself is a devout fighter for the cause of Bengalis. The Tata fiasco in Singur notwithstanding, she has projected herself as an advocate of Bengali cause. Kolkata being heavily filled with Bihari workers, it is not a coincidence that the moment for the decision come when she became the railway minister.

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MNS Attracts Strong Reactions

While political analysts and media is engaged in bashing Maharashtra Navnirman Sena over the incident yesterday in assembly house, there is equally strong reactions from the public in favour of the party. Marathi blogs are replete with the praise for the MLAs who staked their position in the incident. Surprisingly, Ramesh Wanjale, MLA from Khadakwasla constituency was also involved in the manhandling of Abu Azmi. Surprisingly, because he was not a genuine MNS member, but has recently switched over to the party from Congress.

MNS MLAs on Monday attacked Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi inside the state assembly for taking oath in Hindi and not in Marathi marking a violent debut for Raj Thackeray's party in the House. The house acted tough and passed a resolution suspending four MNS members from the House for four years within hours after the chaos. The MLAs were also accused of misbehaving with a woman MLA.

The resolution moved by parliamentary affairs minister Harshvardhan Patil to suspend  Shishir Shinde, Ramesh Vanjale, Ram Kadam and Vasant Geete was approved by voice vote.

Chief minister Ashok Chavan also did not rule out action against MNS chief Raj Thackeray saying this will be taken if the video footage of his reported comments outside the Assembly showed he had instigated his party MLAs. On the other hand, people justify MLAs demands. The members have chosen a right target as Azmi has a very bad reputation in Maharashtra and nobody is willing to support him. One of my friend who works in a reputed IT company called me in night. He said he was receiving many mails pointing to the whole incident. So much as I have read yet, nothing was criticizing MNS. Even those who were not hailing Raj or MNS, only chose to remain silent because they are ready to consent through their silence.

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Politics is family business in Maharashtra

State legislature assembly elections in Maharashtra are scheduled for October 13 in Maharashtra. All major parties in engaged in finalising the list of candidates. While the electoral clashes are heading towards theatrical and interesting, one bit of the polling is prominent. In each politicl party, the election is a family business. Leaders across the board have their offsprings or kins in the fray without a trace of remorse.

Leading the way is Congress which makes an obvious choice for hereditary politics. Since the time of Indira Gandhi, Congress workers are accustomed to bow before their anointed leader on the single virtue of coming from an influential family. This time around, party will have little space to take newcomers on board while struggling to make justice with sons and daughters of its leaders. Chief minister Ashok Chavan himself is such a politician who happens to be son of Shankarrao Chavan, the late Congress leader. Having graced posts of home minister and finance minister at New Delhi as also CM of Maharashtra twice, Shankarrao passed on his legacy to Ashokrao. He first tasted political water in 1987 by becoming Member of Parliament from Nanded, the seat was vacated by his father to become CM of Maharashtra. Ashokrao's brother in law Bhaskarrao Patil Khatgaonkar is now MP from Nanded.

Another prominent politician is Vilasrao Deshmukh, former CM of Maharashtra and now union minister for heavy industries. While his son Ritesh is making waves in Bollywood, his second son Amit is sure to solicit votes from Latur constituency. District Congress committee of Latur has 'unanimously' recommended Amit's candidacy. Dilip Deshmukh, brother of Vilasrao is already in the state cabinet coming from State legislature Council. Vilasrao's junior in union cabinet Pratik Patil is grandson of Vasantdada Patil who won recently from Sangli parliamentary constituency. Madan Patil, another son of Vasantdada is minister of employment guarantee scheme in state cabinet of Maharashtra. Another heavyweight of Sangli, Patangrao Kadam, who holds the empire of Bharati Vidyapeeth in Pune, is trying to field his son Vishwajit Kadam in the race. If elected, he is sure to bag a post in cabinet as Patangao is himself revenue minister currently. Towering all them all will be Raosaheb Shekhawat, president of India Pratibhatai Patil's son. He want a ticket for himself from Amrawati constituency. Praniti Shinde, union power minister Sushilkumar Shinde's daughter is in tipped to be a candidates from the Solapur assembly constituency. She will be the third member from Shinde family second being ….... Vandana Shinde, wife of Sushilkumar. She contested the seat in 2004 when Sushilkumar was CM and still lost the election. Present school education minister in Maharashtra Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil is son of veteran leader Balasaheb Vikhe Patil. Likewise, higher education minister Rajesh Tope is son of veteran Congress leader Ankush Tope.

If the list above seems exhaustive, it is not. It gives only a glimpse of what how political space is full of dynastic endowments. After Congress, Nationalist Congress Party has also turned democracy into a kind of baton relay. NCP's chief has kept two parliamentary seats with him as well as his daughter Supriya Sule. Ajit Pawar, state's water resources minister and guardian minister of Pune is his nephew. Thus, decision making in NCP is controlled by the Pawar family. Besides him, Padmasingh Patil, who is brother in law of Sharad Pawar was elected from Usmanabad recently to Lok Sabha. He was later accused of murder of his cousing Pravinraje Nimbalkar. Though, Padmasinh's son Rana Jagjitsinh Patil is a minister in the state cabinet and sure to get a ticket from NCP. State's tourism minister Vijaysinh Mohite Patil has sent his son Ranjitsinh Mohite Patil to Rajya Sabha. Ganesh Naik, who has a large following in Navi Mumbai area, was in Shiv Sena earlier but later switched to NCP. He is bringing his son to front now. Chhagan Bhujbal, another heavyweight who shifted from Shiv Sena to NCP, is now deputy CM. His nephew Samir Bhujbal was recently sent to Lok Sabha from Yewala constituency.
Shiv Sena and BJP are also not free of this element. Truth of the matter is that Shiv Sena split twice because of dynastic tendency of its chief. So much so that Balasaheb Thackerey was not ready to part with leadership other than his son Uddhav. His nephew Raj Thackerey and a stalwart like Narayan Rane left the party because of this reason. It is another matter that Rane himself has sent his son Nitesh to Lok Sabha while keeping minister's post with himself. He has openly expressed his desire to become chief minister and it is to be seen whether Nilesh Rane, his another son throws his towel in the ring.

In BJP, Dhananjay Munde, nephew of Gopinath Munde, who is member of parliament from Beed now, is willing to contest from Beed for 's assembly seat. His daughter, Pankaja Palwe is said to be ready to jump in the fray. Poonam Mahajan, late leader Pramod Mahajan's daughter was enraged when she was denied a ticket in parliamentary elections. Munde, who is brother in law of Pramod Mahajan, also expressed his dissatisfaction over the denial. This time round, Poonam is tipped to get a ticket from Ghatkopar West constituency. Some other minor leaders will also try to pass on the baton to their kins.

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The theater that is Maharashtra-Part 1

All kind of political manoeuvring is taking place in Maharashtra. With assembly election barely a month later and code of conduct in force, most of the dealings are taking place in back room discussions. This time the theatre is set in so fashion that one is having a feast of drama. There all players of all hues and colours as well as numbers in the fray. So nobody actually knows what will be the ending of this play.

In the Lok Sabha elections, it was expected that ruling Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) will get a drubbing and Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will come out handsomely. But the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena played a perfect spoilsport to the Sena-BJP alliance. The result was that Congress emerged as frontrunner with 17 seats out of 48. Even though it shares power with NCP in state, Congress was in cloud seven when NCP suffered heavy losses managing to get only eight seats. Buoyed with this victory, Congress is bargaining for more seats this time for assembly elections. NCP being at receiving end is finding it hard to preserve its quota of seats at the level of year 2004. Interestingly, even though NCP had contested less seats last time, its tally of winning candidates was more than Congress in the assembly. Obviously enough, Congress does not want a repeat of that episode. Therefore it is trying to browbeat its rival-turned-ally in conceding more seats.

Upto now, elections in the state were limited to these four parties. But this time around, there are two-three more players who can give these parties a run for there money. Actually, MNS has already proved its mettle by eating up a large chunk of votes in Lok Sabha elections in April. However, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) could not prove to be a worthy threat to the main players. Its political TRP was no doubt high but the performance on ground was almost invisible. Even in constituencies like Pune, where it touted its social engineering formula as its main plank by fielding D. S. Kulkarni and every political analyst was putting his bet on the candidate, it failed miserably to prove up to expectations. MNS has a large base of Shiv Sena activists and its Marathi Manoos agenda is already making waves in the people. I have seen it in places like Marathwada that people are ready to trust MNS and anticipate a good performance from the hitherto new party. However, the people also have too many complaints about the party not living to the expectation. It is not uniform in its activities and it seems as going into a slumber at times. Moreover, some recent incidents have put the party activists in a bad light. Accusations like extortion, kidnapping, rape and threatening have been levelled against the partymen, cases being already filed against them. Raj Thackerey, chief of MNS has shown no clear sign of dissociating himself or his party from the dirty elements. How this will affect the prospect of the party in election is better left to the people. I am never ready to make a pronouncement in this matter, because the Indian public is very tolerant when it comes to electing their representative. There is no surety that a person with heaps of criminal records or corruption charges will not get elected.

As for BSP, failure is not new to the party. It is contesting elections for over two decades in the state and has yet to make any mark. Still, it has an appreciable endurance which can help it win a handful of seats. In the October elections though, BSP's ship might sail in rough weather as various Dalit parties with splinter Left groups have joined hands against Congress_NCP as well as Shiv Sena-BJP. This new front is to address the same audience to that of BSP hence there might be a clash of interest between them. Major constituents of new front come from various groups of Republican Party. The reason for their coming together was defeat of candidates like Ramdas Athavale and Rajendra Gawai, who have hitherto earned their bread and butter by aligning themselves with Congress or NCP leadership. A main drawback of this new front is that it has only leaders and no workers. Even the front is planning to contest all 288 seats, it has hardly any chance of winning at more than a dozen seats. That a leader like Dr. Prakash Ambedkar is not in the front further limits the prospects of the front.

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Ganeshotsav Off to Good Start

The festival of Ganesh Chaturthi got off to a well start today. The swine flu seemed to have little impact on the morale of the people in Pune. People were seen thronging temples and Modak, the special type of sweet which is said to be favourite of Lord Ganesh, was in full demand. Even rain graced the city on the occasion.

Roadside vendors made most of the business as the sale of big idols were hit this time around. Ganesh idols in Pune come mainly from Pen in Raigad district. But because of scarcity of water and then H1N1 scare, the number of idols coming to Pune were much lesser. Last fortnight, major Ganesh mandals decided to keep the festivities subdued because of H1N1 Flu scare.

Five main Ganpati mandals (Ganesh Mandals) have special place in the city. First of them all is Kasba Ganpati in Kasba Peth which is city deity. The festival of Kasba Ganpati started with pranpratishtha of Ganesh idol at 11 AM. A procession of the idol was brought out before the main ceremony. The procession was bereft of any kind of musical troupes because all prestigious mandals decided to refrain from musical troupes on account of H1N1 Flu.

In Mumbai also, chief minister Ashok Chavan installed a Ganesh idol at his official residence 'Varsha'. Speaking to mediapersons, he said he prayed to lord for good rains in the state. “I also prayed to god for controlling the inflation, to solve drinking water problem and to make the state wealthier,” he said.

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FLight to Popularity

Maharashtra Govt Tries to Make Hay While Sun Shines

Ahead of assembly elections, the Maharashtra government seems to be in a hurry. Barely a day after announcing some major decisions, the state cabinet yesterday decided to open its coffer for more spending. Prominent among these decisions was to privatise five airports in the state. The government might have thought that people will fail to notice the significance of choice of these airports. Three of these airports fall in the assembly segments of three prominent leaders of ruling party.

According to cabinet decision, privatisation of airports at Latur, Baramati, Osmanabad, Nanded, and Yavatmal, which are currently operated by Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) will be done by Reliance Airports Developer Ltd. (RAD) For airports at Yavatmal, Nanded and Latur, RAD had quoted Rs 27 Crores while for other two airports it was Rs 36 Crores. In lieu of this amount, RAD will get custody of land measuring 601.56 hectares with additional properties for 95 years.

"Reliance Airport Developer bid of Rs 27 crore for Nanded and Latur and Rs 36 crore for Baramati and Osmanabad airports were highest and MIDC was granted permission to accept it," an official release said.

It is to be noted here that Nanded is home constituency of chief minister Ashok Chavan. Likewise Latur is home to former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Baramati is home to union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar. While Chavan and Deshmukh belong to Congress party, Pawar heads Nationalist Congress Party. That these airports were chosen for the privatisation points to the ploy of the state leadership as much as possible to appease their vote bank. The announcement for state assembly elections is expected any day. Once it is done, no leader will be able to make new announcement. Hence everybody is in hurry to declare sops.

As regards Nanded, barely two months ago, Chavan had organised a meeting with the farmers near Nanded city who were protesting against the acquisition of their lands. When Deshmukh was chief minister, government had tried to acquire the lands but failed in doing so. Farmers were demanding a much higher price and had even resorted to pelting stones at the MIDC officers went for the discussions. Facing a stiff opposition, Deshmukh had discarded the move but Chavan, being from Nanded himself, was confident of resolving the issue.

At present, the air service from Nanded reaches to Latur and Mumbai. But reportedly the service attracts not much response.

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Water cuts in cities across Maharashtra

With the situation of rain worsening in the state of Maharashtra, cities across the state are bracing for the cut in water supply. Following the example of Pune, now Aurangabad is also set to face a 30 percent reduction in the daily water supply. As the rain god has chosen to remain away, the dams have failed to fill. This has forced the administration to enforce stricter measures.

Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporations announced on Monday to impose 30 and 20 per cent water cutsrespectively. State Water Resources Minister and guardian minister of city Ajit Pawar had ordered the cut in view of the water scarcity. "Last year by August 15, four dams that supply drinking water to Pune were filled up completely. As there is no sufficient rainfall this year, water storage is only 70 per cent of dams' capacity," Pawar informed after holding meeting with officials here today.
In Pimpri-Chinchwad where the dams suppling water to city were filled only up to 80 per cent, Pawar said.
A day after that, municipal corporation of Aurangabad also decided to reduce the water supply by 10 percent. The announcement was made by the guardian minister of the district Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil. Jaikwadi Dam, which is responsible for the water supply of the district has just 15 percent of water storage now. Minister also warned that the situation does not improve, meaning that if there are no rains in the return of monsoon, then the water cut can go higher. The situation is so severe that even supply to National Thermal Power Plant at Parli is also on the brink of severance. Local bodies in Gangapur, Vaijapur, Sillod, Khulatabad, Paithan and Kannad are also told to lessen their water use.

For the last ten days, I was in Nanded, the city of present chief minister of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan. Ahead of the state legislative assembly elections, Chavan is on a promising spree in his home town. But he can not the assure the residents of Nanded a better water supply. It was in the month of June that extra money was pumped in the Godavari river flowing through Nanded so that the need of drinking water be fulfilled. There are no rains in the reason and state government has already declared 140 villages as drought affected. The residents are getting only one time water supply.

According to Ajit Pawar, all the reservoirs in Maharashtra together hold 15,252 million cubic meters (MCM) of water as on Monday, which is down from 19,206 MCM in the corresponding period previous year. The total installed reservoir capacity for the state is 33,085 MCM. Water availability remains only 12 percent of the installed capacity in the Marathwada region. Koyna dam has only 83 per cent water stored, while Jayakwadi and Ujani have 13 per cent and 33 per cent respectively.

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Swine Flu: Today's Developments

As many as 105 persons, including 78 para medical staff of a hospital where the 14-year-old school girl died of swine flu, have been put on preventive medication for H1N1 virus.

However, many of the family members of Rida Shaikh, a Class Nine Pune student who succumbed to the deadly influenza virus yesterday, including her mother and cousin sister have tested negative for the infection, they said.

Preventive medication would be given for ten days to all those who came in contact with the flu victim, the officials said.

Meanwhile, civic health officials have started screening students of Anne's school where Rida studied. The school has put up a notice saying it will remain closed for two days till tomorrow.

Government today issued fresh guidelines to contain the spread of swine flu in the country a day after one patient succumbed to the disease in Pune.

According to the new guidelines, patients, whose swab test are pending but have mild flu symptoms, will now have the option of being treated at home.

The Centre while issuing the guidelines considered the fact that the fear of isolation at stipulated hospitals was making less people with swine flu symptoms to report.

"After the clinical examination by a doctor at the identified health facility, a person can be treated at home or at the hospitals pending results of the swine flu test," Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Health Vineet Choudhary told reporters here.

He, however, added that the decision of the doctors at the identified health facility would be final regarding hospitalisation of the patient.

According to the guidelines, if a person is being isolated and treated at home, then the care givers and family members would be given measures on how to protect themselves as well as take care of the patient.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has said that there was total negligence on part of the hospital which treated the 14-year-old girl, who died of swine flu in Pune.

Terming the incident as "unfortunate", Chavan said: "This incident is really unfortunate. I feel there was total negligence on part of those who admitted her to the hospital and negligence on part of the hospital."

He said that health authorities would find out the reasons as to why proper treatment was not given to her.

Chavan, who met senior health officials, said he asked officials to take every possible step to deal with such cases.

Meanwhile, the girl's family members have blamed the doctors for failing to detect the disease in time.

The hospital authorities who had carried the tests following the directions of government and health officials did not report that she was infected by swine flu.

The officials at Jehangir Hospital where she was admitted however said that they have kept everyone in the family informed about her condition .

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Cong. NCP Alliance in Jeopardy

Mudslinging Continues from Both Sides

Can Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party part ways? That is a question on the mind of everyone watching Maharashtra politics. As the war of words intensifies between two coalition partners, the situation is fast heading towards a five cornered fight in the ensuing Legislature elections four months later.

Congress today came in with hard words towards NCP. It asked NCP to introspect on whether its senior leaders had worked for or against Congress candidates recently concluded Lok Sabha elections in the state. Manikrao Thakre, state chief of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC)has sent a letter to the NCP president R R Patil. He has asked in the letter that air of confusion between the two coalition partners must be cleared first. This came as a response to some harsh comments from NCP leaders in the state.

Issue arose over the some candidates. For example, in Mumbai North Central, NCP leader Nawab Malik was instrumental in putting up the candidature of Bhaijan on BSP ticket against Congress candidate Priya Dutt. Home Minister Jayant Patil had allegedly backed Congress rebel Ajit Ghorpade against party nominee Prateek Patil in Sangli. Tribal Development Minister Vijaykumar Gavit had put up his brother on Samajwadi party ticket against Congress candidate Manikrao Gavit in Nandurbar whereas Ajit Pawar had stayed away from Suresh Kalmadi's campaign in Pune.

The debate has flared up after chief minister Ashok Chavan, gave ultimatum to cabinet minister for Non-Conventional Energy Vinay Kore to quit the government for supporting candidates of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, party led by Raj Thackerey. Since MNS is perceived as a party dividing citizens between Maharashtrians and North Indians, Congress can never have an truck with it. There was also one more reason. Jan Surajya Party, led by Kore fielded two candidates in Marathwada for Lok Sabha elections. These candidates were fielded in Nanded and Latur, two constituencies represented by current and ex-chief ministers.

This strategy was seen as ploy by leaders of western Maharashtra to undermine the leadership of Marathwada. After Chavan's ultimatum, Kore had dared him by saying that Jansurajya Party was free to take any decision as there was no policy decision taken by Congress-NCP and alliance front government in Maharashtra for the ongoing general polls. Jan Surajya Party had supported Raj Thackeray-led MNS South Mumbai Lok Sabha candidate Bala Nandgaonkar.

Kore had even said that the ministership was given to him through NCP quota. Hence any decision about his ministership was to be made by NCP president Sharad Pawar and state party president R R Patil.

In the just concluded meeting of district Congress chiefs, NCP came under fire for not co-operating with the candidates of Congress. They district chiefs even advocated fiercely going solo for the Legislature elections. That has reallyl put the Ten year old alliance into jeopardy. The dynamics of the alliance are such that no leader from either side wants to continue it. It was some smart bargaining on the part of Sharad Pawar, which forced Congress leadership in the center to forge an alliance with the broke away party.

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CAMPAIGNING COMES TO END

VOTING FOR FIRST PHASE ON THURSDAY

The campaigning for the election to the Lok Sabha came to an end in Nanded constituency today evening. In the last 13 days that I am here, there was no trace of hectic campaigning in the constituency. This when the chief minister of Maharashtra, Ashok Chavan represents the district in the Legislative Assembly. His brother in law Bhaskararao Patil Khatgaonkar is the candidate for the seat here. Sambhaji Pawar from Bharatiya Janata Party is his main opponent. Also, Preeti Shinde, a young candidate who has done her MBA in Fashion Marketing from Milan is also oin the fray from the Jan Surajya Party ticket. She has managed to grab much attention because of her credentials as also her campaigning has managed to create a good impression. She is sure to give a run for the money for both of these heavyweight candidates. Besides these three main faces, there are 22 candidates who are in the ring. Two electronic voting machines will have to used for them.

Nanded is one of the 124 constituencies spread over 15 states and two Union Territories going to the polls in First phase on Thursday. A total of 14 crore 31 lakh voters will exercise their right to vote in this phase.

R. Balakrishanan, deputy Election Commissioner said in New Delhi that over one lakh 85 thousand polling stations have been set up and over one lakh polling staff will man them. 1715 candidates are in the fray in this phase. Out of them 122 are women. The violence has started to engulf the electioneering process. In Bihar, activists of outlawed CPI (Maoist) torched off vehicles of contesting Janata Dal (United) candidate in Karakat Parliamentary constituency in wee hours on Tuesday. Maoists also blew up two school buildings by using dynamite at Barachatti in Gaya district.

Bahadur Sonker, Indian Justice Party candidate from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh was murdered on Sunday night. The Election Commission has sought a report from the Jaunpur district administration in Uttar Pradesh on the incident. 

In Andhra Pradesh, the campaigning is at its peak in the 22 Lok Sabha and 154 Assembly constituencies where polling is to take place on Thursday. Meanwhile, a new incident surfaced there when Shubha Rani, the president of Women wing of Praja Rajyam Party nearly assaulted a cameraman of NTV Telugu. However, she later apologized for the incident. She was miffed by an attempt of Sting operation.

In Maharashtra, Hingoli parliamentary constituency which is formed after the delimitation will go to the polls in the first phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Thursday. It includes Hingoli, Kalamnuri, Basmat, Kinwat, Hadgoan and Umerkhed assembly constituencies. Bhokar assembly constituency has been excluded and Umerkhed assembly segment from Vidharba region included in this newly framed Lok Sabha constituency.

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It's All a Family Business

Probable MPs Linked to CM

It is family affair for Congress. One day before Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the Gandhi family addressed a rally in Nanded, Chief Minister Ashok Chavan's wife Amita filed her nomination papers from the Nanded constituency.

Monday was the last day for filing the nominations. This was in the contravention of the candidacy announced by Bhaskarrao Patil Khatgaonkar from the same constituency. Bhaskarrao Patil is the brother-in-law of Chavan and is the sitting Member of Parliament of the city.

Chavan, who accompanied Patil while filing latter's papers was also present with his wife while she filed her nomination.

When Chavan was in Nanded three days ago, several party workers had demanded to give the Congress canndidacy to Amita Chavan. Chavan had not given any reaction then. Khatgaonkar had filed his papers thereafter. Suddenly on Monday, Amita filed her papers. It is still an open question as to whether she remains in the fray or not because it is about a week to withdraw the nomination form. Whosever withdraws his papers, the candidate will be still from Chavan family.

Meanwhile, a total of 41 candidates are in the fray for Nanded Lok Sabha constituency. CM's wife was among the 21 candidates who filed their nomination on the last day.

Meanwhile, speaking in the election rally on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi said that oppposition parties do not understand what development is.

"They do not talk for the poor. Duniya ko garibon ki nazar se nahi dekhte. (They do not see the world from the eyes of the poor. They know only privatisation and stock markets," Rahul said speaking for barely seven minutes.

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