Municipal Dynamics– going “RIGHT” way….

In 2012– I had just turned 18 , my interest in politics had always been inherent but first time i was going to get a chance to actually  reflect my political inclinations in the form of VOTE — first time i was going to exercise my political right, my political franchise. Just years before Raj Thackeray had formed Maharashtra NavNirman Sena — a rival child of ShivSena. . Maharashtra especially Mumbai , regionalism was growing = the identities of ” Marathi Mannos” were being evoked yet again ( as the tradition in Maharashtra to target outsiders to lay a strong foundation for a political party) , every individual who  was till recently looking at himself as Indian like during 2011 World CUp win — suddenly started viewing himself as MARATHI MANOOS —   the issues & identities kept changing thereafter..

 

 

IDENTITIES are fragile in india, be it national identities, state identities , regional or linguistic. The beauty of India is a person who stands on railway platform to hit the migrants entering into India, suddenly  starts protesting against TRUMP — why he is sending his daughter / son in US back to india & say USA does not respect merit , but technically he was doing the same thing with people from UP or Bihar  or maybe SouthIndians—just that his position has changed to beneficiary in case of USA. One is an Indian when we did surgical strikes against pakistan , when  india wins a cricket match , North indian ( homogenised identity ) when talking to south indian ( again used collectively ) –but fighting within themselves like for eg — Cauvery issue, suddenly u have a pan ASian identity –Indian & pakistani’s act as brothers when protesting against “TRUMP’s policies” — suddenly during Municipal elections that identity narrows down to linguistic basis. A person starts abusing Gujratis in Mumbai for voting for BJP &  has a drink , has business or goes on a date with same Gujrati or for that matter anyone else.  Moral is that Identities are Fragile, Politicians & Political parties shape up the way you think., the emotionally influenced people are just Pawns of the politicians playing divisive politics for their benefits & we are falling victim to it .

Maharashtra until 2012 was very much fragmented , there were regional “forts” or “powerhouses” creates in various parts by various politicians like Sharad Pawar & his NCP in Baramati ,Pune  areas surrounding it ; Gopinath Munde in beed , Vilasrao Deshmukh in Latur, Balasaheb Thaceray  his Shivsena controlled  Mumbai , Thane  areas around, Pramod Mahajan also being one of the stalwart of BJP. But unfortunately — Maharashtra lost one after the other — all its big leaders, creating Huge Political void in the state. COngress lost most of its Big leaders– who either died or others like Ashok Chavan were caught in Aadhar scam .NCP lost its hold– due to decline of fellow COngress, lack of agenda, political leadership like that of Sharad Pawar being focussed in Center, huge Corruption charges & irrelevant  highly irresponsible comments.  HUGE POLITICAL VOID — created in Maharashtra.

Then came the 2014 LokSabha elections– NARENDRA MODI Wave swept the entire country , the epicenter being Gujarat , but adjacent Maharashtra suffered huge impulses & afffect was seen till UP, Bihar everywhere. The Wave or Tsunami was so strong that the after effects are still being seen — the recent in Mumbai & several other Municipal Coorporation in Maharashtra. It was not only an after affect of Modi wave but also reward to Devendra Fadnavis era in Maharashtra — who rose in the time  filled in the political void with his clean image, effective personality , intellect , organisational skills etc. Rose against all the odds , all the criticisms — this election was bigger test for him , because it was under his leadership ,under his name..

The course of Maharashtra politics changes now– one thing is for sure- Congress & NCP have to something substantial something out of the box — to regain their lost  charm  & overthrow ShivSena &  BJP.. For both Rightist parties it is a win win situation..BJP saw huge increase in its vote share — ever since its inception, whereas ShivSena was looking to get a  “Good Bargaining power” against the BJP. Both  gained as they faught separately . Uddhav  & Devendra have evolved their skills over time  & the image especially that of DEVENDRA FADNAVIS got revamped — he has certainly arrived as the New “HERO” of  Maharashtra Politics. With his clean image, political backgrond, educational qualifications, managerial skills, communication efficacy, young age  & leadership skills along with Support of the Center.. it will be interesting how far he takes his state riding on his shoulders………..

The future course of  Maharashtra’s political landscape will be interest affecting the national scenario to a great extent ….

always an optimist

CHINMAY DANDEKAR

All feedbacks will be appreciated on

chinmayud@gmail.com

( All rights of the blogs are reserved with the author , duplicity in any form  without the consent of the author will be legally  scrutinized)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Per Capita Income” or “Per Capita Izzat” in Maharashtra ??

MAHA-RASHTRA , as the name suggests; big country ,huge province , huge in economy ,huge in area,huge in population & gigantic importance both strategically and economically , also probably politically the most diverse state in INDIA with stakeholders coming from different strata, different castes of the society. The state, our own MAHARASHTRA is heading for a transition in its Politics and probably also in its fate on 19th October,2014.
The state and the people of the state known for its economy, the possession of self respect , the accommodative spirit yet alleged for their communal mindsets,known for its capital the city of dreams-MUMBAI.The state has been dominated by political heavy weights like the Pawar’s and the Thackeray’s for more than two decades. Now with,the demise of Balasaheb Thackeray,VIlasrao Deshmukh,Pramod Mahajan,Gopinath Munde and Mr.Sharad Pawar nearing his political retirement, looks like a formidable post 2003 World Cup Australian cricket team in which veterans suddenly disappeared in quick successions creating a huge vacuum.Moreover,along with the active politicians, the voters have changed drastically with the changing environment in the country and world on a whole.Now if the Political Parties do not change in congruence and in synchrony they will soon become archaic.
The issues of Maharashtra traditionally have been localised, ranging from mill workers, protests against South Indians by Balasaheb Thackeray , the thrashing of North Indian community by Raj Thackeray to promote his newly formed MNS,etc.But the self esteem turned Ego of ” Marathi Manus “ always being the hot favourite issue along with “HINDUTVA” making its timely guest appearances and Shivaji Maharaj being used as the Brand Ambassador of any brand that is new in the political arena,trying to make an entry or spread its wings,even a veteran and current Super Star of Indian Politics “Narendra Modi” had to inculcate SHIVAJI MAHARAJ in his tagline.

All in all , more than the promotion and adherence to a particular ideology , Maharashtra politicians have always tried to gauge the emotions and make the “Marathi Manus ” its BrahMos missile and strike multiple targets.They have always tried to fly the “Saffron flag” above the “Tricolour”. In Maharashtra “Per Capita Izzat ” is more important than “Per Capita Income” . Politicians in Maharashtra have been largely apathetic to parameters like GDP,Literacy Rate,Sex ratio,Employment,FDI etc.
Now after the crushing loss in Lok Sabha elections,the changing mood of voters,the emergence of MODI factor,“DEVELOPMENT” seems to have become the most predominant and most sexy word between the New Generation Politicians.The Congress-NCP led government is all set to bid a goodbye to power , as anti incumbancy itself being the most dominant factor along with high profile Adarsh & Irrigation scams and also aberrant and highly irresponsible statements given by politicians who are soon going to be out of the political scenario.

Now,the results would have been completely predictable had the events that took place in the last 20-25 days not taken place , with the Shivsena-BJP & Congress-NCP alliances falling apart in a fortnight has increased the unpredictability , added spice to the results but also raised some serious questions,” Do political parties bother about ideology ?” or “the lust has its dominance over ideology ?” How can the Pro-Hinduism chauvinists , the parties acting as siblings on all issues can part off just because of row on 10-15 seats ? How can the NCP-Congress divorce ,who have been together for years,they said “there were glued together by secularism but it seems that the only thread that binds Congress-NCP together is POWER !! Why dint the skirmish between Prithviraj Chavan and Ajit Pawar  force them to resign earlier ? Why did they jeopardise the already deplorable condition of Maharashtra showcasing togetherness inspite of differences ? How can the MNS & ShivSena even be to different political parties ? when they are total xerox copies of each other right from ideology, to volunteers ,attitude,role model,self respect,ego & also ‘blood’ being the same . Is ideology the last thing these parties think about ?? Its fun but at the same time depressing to see these people switching from one party to other just before elections ,to see them actually go insane,literally kissing people which once they abhorred. How does even the BJP welcome people who have been alleged on Corruption by them in the past, do they have no morality or has the BJP turned into a proxy river Ganga where all your sins will wash away once you join it ?

The five cornered election has certainly increased the unpredictability,where emotion,money and power seem to be the three important pillars,also the unique feature about Maharashtra is many smaller entities have created their monopolies and made it impermeable for other parties to make a break through their fortress where they have addressed the local issues at the same time created heavens for themselves and also fulfilled their duties pertaining to the next 7 generations in their families.
With the above mentioned issues being true it is necessary for maharashtra to undergo transition and achieve stability,hence avoid the situation from being further deplorable.It is necessary for the veterans to sit aside & let the new generation educated,clean imaged,visionary politicians to come up. NaMo rightly said striking the chords in his rallies,“Jab Mumbai aurr Maharashtra chalta hai Hindustan chal padta hai, Mujhe Desh ko aage le jane k liye Mumbai aur Maharshtra  ka saath ki jarurat hai “ also saying ” Jab tak mai Delhi me hu Maharshtra ko tutne nahi dunga ” these to sentences are enough to make BJP the single largest party, but the authenticity of the statement that Maharashtra not being divided has to be sceptical about when it has always supported a separate Vidharbha and always been an advocate for smaller states.Meanwhile, it is necessary for intellect and vision to replace muscle and money .It is necessary in this election that the people of Maharashtra show a red signal to dynasty politics.Leaders like Praniti Shinde,Poonam Mahajan,Amit Deshmukh,Aditya Thackeray,Nitesh Rane,Pankaj and Sameer Bhujbal should not make a direct Wild card entry into the political arena just because they belong to a Political family , the people of this country have showed that they cannot be taken for granted in the LokSabha elections and said no to dynasty politics of the Congress,the same must be replicated with other political parties.Let the voter be empowered and their ignorance not be exploited.

Now as I type the results are out and my prediction seems to be more or less true ,BJP is set to become the single largest party but short of clear majority.With the same, will start a battle of egos in Maharashtra.With BJP falling short of approximately 35 seats it will obviously have to go into alliance with one of the other 3 parties.An alliance with Congress being out of question,The Shivsena and NCP being the contenders with a high probablity of Sena winning the battle as it is the natural allay of the BJP ,though BJP has not received a clear mandate,it has a lot to gain;had the alliance not broken probably they could have not got the number of seats with ShivSena which they currently won.Secondly,they have now emerged as the Big Brother in Maharashtra suddenly,as they were being suppressed by ShivSena since years ; on the other hand Uddhav Thackeray suddenly becomes amongst the top three significant politicians in India , as he can always backmail the BJP as without his support it is not possible for the Government to sustain in the state , he can hence demand the key portfolios in State as well as centre which otherwise the ShivSena would not have got.

Hence, i conclude this mandate by the people of Maharashtra have provided a WIN-WIN situation for both the BJP and Shivsena.If the mastermind Sharad Pawar pitches in this khichdi, it would be a big surprise and the morality of the BJP will be at stake.All in All people of Maharshtra have made provision for entertainment for the next few days,its going to be interesting at the same time its going to be like a loyalty test for the Politicians .

 

I am going to have a great time comparing their pre and post election statements. It will be be fun to see the Afzhal Khan and Shivaji Maharaj meet (as said by Mr.Uddhav Thackeray ) or will the Naturally Corrupt and Communal party (N.C.P) and the BJP hug each other.Morality ,Loyalties,Ideologies at stake but the only thing that a voter can do now is just wait and watch.

                              Whatever be the outcome- I just hope that Maharashtra regains its glory, Maharashtra flourishes and becomes MAHA-RASHTRA in true sense,and we all move ahead on the missile of development and achieve “Per Capita Income” with “Per Capita Izzat” being secure in its place.

-always an optimist

CHINMAY DANDEKAR

                               

 All feedbacks will be appreciated on

chinmayud@gmail.com

( All rights of the blogs are reserved with the author , duplicity in any form  without the consent of the author will be legally  scrutinized)