Opinion Return of the Maharashtrians
The consequences of Gadkaris move to Delhi....
A few months ago,when some Marathi newspapers began speculating that Maharashtra BJP President Nitin Gadkari was tipped to become the national president of the party,political circles in the state found it amusing,and most dismissed it as another instance of media kite-flying. It was considered wishful thinking by Gadkaris supporters,who were thought to be trying to boost his image vis-à-vis Gopinath Munde. The two groups had been at loggerheads in the state unit of the party and Munde had even quit in 2008 saying he had been sidelined,but was dissuaded from doing so.
Munde had been elected to the Lok Sabha and seemed to be gaining clout,being the most successful mass leader of the BJP in the state. So the speculation about Gadkari being made the national chief of the party was obviously hard to digest then. How can it be Gadkari,they asked. He had no mass base,had never won any election,lacked a pan-India appeal and in the 2009 state assembly polls contested under his leadership,the BJP had won only 46 seats,down from 54 in 2004.
Eventually,it became clear that there were other things that the party considered more important. The party apparently wanted a young leader with strong RSS grooming to lead it. And Gadkari a Brahmin from the Vidarbha region of Maharashtra became the first person from the state to head the BJP. But his elevation from the post of the Maharashtra president to national president may not have gone down well with a section of party leaders from the Hindi-speaking belt who have largely been dominating party affairs and consider it their privilege to provide leadership.
On the other hand,Gadkaris promotion has delighted a large section of partymen in the state as he is the first person from Maharashtra to head the party,which is expected to increase their proximity to the powers that be. Several of them,who are in the BJP and the RSS,are already nursing ambitions of playing a larger role in national politics. Another reason for the jubilation is that with both party stalwarts from the state Gadkari and Munde in national politics,there would be little time for squabbles back home.
Some observers also feel that Gadkaris choice would not only provide a younger face to the party,but also increase the importance of Maharashtrian Brahmins in national politics. The RSS has its origins and headquarters in Maharashtra. Its founder,Keshav Baliram Hedgewar,was vice-president of the Hindu Mahasabha founded by freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. After being run by leaders from the northern states,the BJP hopes that it would have more strategists (including official and private advisors) from Maharashtra to rejuvenate the party as well as the RSS.
While Gadkari may not have won an election or attracted large crowds,his reputation of being a hardcore RSS man who has succeeded in setting up successful business ventures and changed the face of Mumbai by constructing flyovers to ease traffic congestion is being cited within party circles to indicate that the BJP may just have found its man of the moment.
They also expect that choosing Gadkari would attract young volunteers to the Sangh Parivar,including the BJP. Being a successful businessman,he is expected to tackle issues dear to the heart of the younger generation,like education and employment.
In Maharashtra,the BJPs alliance with the Shiv Sena,that ruled the state from 1995 to 1999,was mainly run in its years of success by its primary architect,Pramod Mahajan,who had direct access to Bal Thackeray.
After Mahajans murder,the BJP and Sena relations have been strained on several occasions. The allies have squabbled over sharing of seats and policy issues such as whether Maharashtra should be split to create a separate Vidarbha the BJP is in favour,the Sena isnt. With Raj Thackerays Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) emerging as a formidable rival by breaking the monopoly of the Sena,the BJP is expected to have one more option in future polls. And Gadkari could find himself at the centre of this process as well.
rakshit.sonawane@expressindia.com
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