There is something particularly rotten about the state of Maharashtra. Or specifically,the state of the Congress party in Maharashtra. As Ashok Chavan bows out,the party must wonder why it is that no Congress chief minister has managed to finish a full term in the state. The party might limp on in power endlessly because of a fragmented and discredited opposition,and the alliance with the NCP. But its dysfunction is hidden from no one now. The party has dominated politics in Maharashtra since the states Independence,except for a brief phase out of power. But as far as the Congress is concerned,administration after administration in Maharashtra has wrung the state dry,depleting its productive capacities,as infrastructure appears creakier and more dilapidated than ever. Even as other states,even those surrounding it,are setting new standards of economic progress,Maharashtra,the original state of aspiration,has belied its promise. The Congresss state unit and its equally compromised string-pullers in Delhi,who continue to treat it only as milch cow,have much to do with this damage. It is a truth wearily acknowledged that political parties in this country have to scrabble to raise funding. Perhaps chief ministers are informally required to bring tribute to the party,in order to sustain the machine. Its also true that the amount of money that can be extracted from a metropolis like Mumbai beggars the imagination. But even then,Maharashtra sets a whole new bar. After all,what does it say about the Congress that it has not been able to pluck out one individual from its ranks who can redeem its image? When Chavan became chief minister,he was introduced as a fresh,promising and untainted candidate now,barely two years later,he cant seem to keep a lid on the scandals. And sadly enough,he is the Congress norm,not the exception. The damage wrought by this durbar-style politics is visible. In recent years,chief ministers have been the architects of change in other states,deriving political mileage and credibility from the tangible development that can be ascribed to their personal leadership. But the Congress in Maharashtra and those responsible for the state in Delhi have resisted the challenge to soak up the goodwill that comes from positive transformation,and done the state a tremendous disfavour.
