Ganesh up for grabs

THE coming Ganeshotsav is the opportunity politicians in Maharashtra have been waiting for. Parties see it as an occasion to propagate their...

THE coming Ganeshotsav is the opportunity politicians in Maharashtra have been waiting for. Parties see it as an occasion to propagate their ideology and get recruits. With Maharashtra going to the polls in 2004, the Congress and the Shiv Sena are taking their preparations for the Ganesh festival to a grander than ever scale.

A lot of money has been pumped in and the 10,000 mandals in Mumbai and 45,000 in Maharashtra have been asked to make the celebrations a bigger event this year.

Though Ganeshotsav is traditionally associated with the Shiv Sena, the Congress is keen on projecting a pro-Hindu image beginning with this year8217;s celebrations.

Not to be outshone, Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray held a series of meetings, asking party workers to weave his Mee Mumbaikar dream into the celebrations.

With the Sena and Congress vying for the Hindu vote, the mandals have never had it so good. 8216;8216;Celebrating festivals is not the sole prerogative of the Sena,8217;8217; says Mumbai regional Congress committee president Gurudas Kamat. The party is offering Rs 1 lakh as first prize for the Ganesh mandal with the most relevant social message, Rs 75,000 for the first runner up and Rs 51,000 for the second runner up in each district of Maharashtra.

The Sainiks are offering lavish prize money in every shaka in the state. An estimated Rs 10 crore in prize money is being offered by various political parties for the Ganesh mandals in the State. 8216;8216;Though one cannot quote an exact figure, there8217;s a lot of money being offered as prizes,8217;8217; says president of the Mumbai Youth Congress Charanjeet Singh Sapra.

But politicians see this as sound investment. Says Sena8217;s Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Nirupam: 8216;8216;Over the years the Ganesh festival has emerged as a major plank for propagating political ideology.8217;8217;

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Shiv Sena activists say over 95 per cent of the mandals in Maharashtra, particularly in Mumbai and Pune, are sponsored by them. In fact, the Sena8217;s increasing mass base is attributed to its participation in Ganeshotsav. According to party insiders, the mandals are a front for the Sena to enlist new members.

Though the Nationalist Congress Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party too participate in the celebrations, the prime contenders for the Ganeshotsav pie are the Sena and the Congress.

The two are also keen to project an environmental friendly avatar as well. Both parties have instructed their workers to ensure that every street in the state is kept clean during the celebrations. Now, that8217;s healthy competition.