The chief minister is now the chief agitator — calling bandhs and staging sit-ins.
Ahead of the general election, there is a new show in town — chief ministers have become chief agitators, mostly against the Centre. Most recently, Shivraj Singh Chouhan has threatened a state-wide shutdown if the Centre does not sanction a Rs 5,000 crore relief package to Madhya Pradesh’s farmers.
Not so long ago, Arvind Kejriwal set off large ripples when he, as chief minister of Delhi, launched a massive protest over the control of Delhi Police, and led a demonstration and sit-in, even sleeping on the street. While strategic protest may be central to Kejriwal’s platform, what’s notable is the way other chief ministers appear to have rushed to mimic the same tenor and tactic. Nitish Kumar called a bandh last Sunday to demand special status for Bihar.
Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy claimed his place in Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. While the Left parties and Mamata Banerjee have been long-time practitioners of these methods, it makes for an eye-catching departure when chief ministers abandon the duties of the secretariat for the energies of the street. Despite having access to the levers of power, and formal means of communicating their petitions to the Centre, these CMs prefer the high-visibility scenic confrontation.
There may be a larger context for this rash of chief ministerial protests across states. They are meant to convey the impression of a challenge, to project to the people that the CM’s good intentions are being thwarted by a withholding Centre, especially when the state is run by a party in opposition to the Congress. As Indian federalism has deepened and the centre of gravity has shifted more towards the states, chief ministers have greater powers and resources than ever before. In many cases, as heads of regional parties, they have even greater clout. That growing assertion and aggression is spilling into public view.
On the brink of a crucial Lok Sabha election, these CMs have chosen direct action methods not so much to persuade the Centre, but to be seen to be forcefully trying to wrest their objectives from it. Kejriwal’s AAP has already shown the returns of such a strategy in its adept use of mass media to amplify the image and create the desired effects. Unlike the more artless marches or demonstrations that the Left parties routinely call, these are carefully crafted, made for TV protests that usually demand a greater suspension of disbelief.
