Uneasy bedfellows

Congress and NCP may be ruling partners in the state as well as at the Centre,but vie for the same votebanks.

The Congress and NCP may be ruling partners in the state as well as at the Centre,but vie for the same votebanks. The compulsion of staying in power makes them tolerate each other,but the rift is evident. For instance,Chief Minister Ashok Chavan Congress and his deputy Chhagan Bhujbal NCP flew separately for aerial survey of the recent ship mishap. Chavan did not invite Home Minister R R Patil NCP for a crucial meeting to review the status of the Khairlanji Dalit massacre case. After a major confrontation between Chavan and NCP ministers led by Bhujbal in the Cabinet,a coordination panel was formed for damage control at the behest of Sharad Pawar. The panel met only once and could reach consensus on just one issue: to sort out issues behind closed doors,instead of going to the media.

Kinship above politics

The ruling parties in the state appear to be helpless when it comes to confronting some of their belligerent leaders. In the Congress,the wife of Transport Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil,Shalinitai,had rebelled against the official party nominee and wrested the Ahmednagar zilla parishad chiefs post a year ago. Despite disciplinary action initiated against her and a panel of ministers including Narayan Rane pronouncing her guilty and asking her to quit,she had refused to comply. Similarly,when NCP chief Sharad Pawar visited Mumbai to address an organisational meeting last weekend,he pulled up warring leaders within the party including Home Minister R R Patil and Rural Development Minister Jayant Patil,but turned a blind eye to the presence of controversial NCP MP Padamsinh Patil sharing the dais. Padamsinh was expelled from the party after his arrest in connection with the murder of a political rival. While Radhakrishna is an aide of Chavan,Padamsinh is related to Pawar.

Impulsive or plain ignorant?

The high offices and power that politicians occupy and wield make them masquerade as experts in all walks of life or are considered to be so by the masses. But,at times,their outbursts expose them. After the collision between two cargo ships off the Mumbai harbour recently,Chief Minister Ashok Chavan declared that it would lead to a scarcity of petroleum products within a week. He or the intelligent babus who briefed him was proved wrong as the city was said to have enough stock. The incident was reminiscent of a similar faux pas by former chief minister Manohar Joshi during the Shiv Sena-BJP regime,when there was a rumour that Ganesh idols were drinking milk. Joshi had not only endorsed the miracle but given interviews on the divine phenomenon.

Desperate measures

With all major political parties in poll mode well ahead of civic elections due in Mumbai by February 2012,the Shiv Sena which rules the civic body and Raj Thackerays MNS are desperately vying with each other to masquerade as messiah of Maharashtrians. In the process,the MNS and Sena appear to be setting the agenda,compelling the government to show that it also cares for Maharashtrians. The latest is the lack of screening of Marathi films in multiplexes despite a directive by the government. After the Sena and MNS clamoured for credit,the government formed a panel on the issue. Meanwhile,the Marathi manoos prefers to watch Hindi and English films in multiplexes but not Marathi ones,deterring theatre owners from screening them. Now,the demand is to scale down ticket rates for Marathi films to make them affordable.