Dance of Democracy

Gone in 3 days was a headline that the Hindustan times carried on their website today. Chief Minister for 3 days. The last time something like this happened was in the movie Nayak when Mr. Anil Kapoor played the role of Chief Minister of Maharashtra for a day. This proves that anything can happen in politics, certainly in INDIA.

A month long deadlock and all the chaos and drama finally ended today with Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi staking claim to form the government after arriving to a common agreement to form the alliance. Mr. Sharad Pawar once again proved himself as the kingmaker. As far as I remember this is a first for Maharashtra where all the adversaries have come together to form the government (something like this happened with Congress and AAP in Delhi and the Mahagathbandhan during the general elections). Forming this government has not been walk in the park for the 3 parties involved. There were several discussions held over the last few weeks with each of their leaders making countless trips to come to an agreement that suited all. Finally when everthing was going smooth and it looked like the Maha Vikas Aghadi will form the government, Mr. Ajit Pawar gave them a scare of their lives by siding with the BJP in the middle of the night even though he knew he couldn't gather the support to back the BJP government (In GOT lingo, The night was dark and full of terrors). He managed to get cases against him being dropped by supporting the BJP.

The arrogance of BJP and its leaders has resulted in their downfall in Maharashtra. They're losing key allies because they're not honoring them and because they think they're invincible. BJP and Shiv Sena both fought this election together but couldn't come to an agreement over power sharing. Now whether they promised to share the CM's post is still debatable but if they did then they should have kept their word and not lose an ally like Shiv Sena. I still don't think Shiv Sena had any intention of parting with the BJP. The demand for CM was never a serious one but I think they were definitely expecting BJP to concede key portfolios and equal cabinet berths, something that never happened. The curse of Aarey got the better of the BJP government. 

Shiv Sena’s (Mr. Udhav’s) handling of the political situation in Maharashtra contrasts completely with that of his father’s (Bala Saheb’s ) handling of politics of Maharashtra. Shiv Sena by succumbing to the greed of power and the pressure of Congress & NCP, has taken a subordinate role in the politics of the state. His father never compromised on his leadership and remained a powerful entity till his end. Shiv Sena has for years been seeking votes on Hindu identity and has been a strong proponent of the construction of Ram Mandir. By submitting to the secular forces they have confused their voters even more. I truly doubt that they would have the teeth to take any major decisions or express their concerns regarding national matters in this alliance. They will not be able to adhere to their Hindutva ideology, which will make them lose many of their cadre and vote base to the BJP. The NCP and Congress have the upper hand now. BJP will also take this to their advantage and engineer through defections by cobbling up their numbers to form a government on their own should a re-election happen. The clear winner in all this would be BJP in my mind as this will only help them in the next election.

The people of Maharashtra have been taken for a ride this election. As far as I understand, The common man would be feeling cheated, confused and deceived, irrespective of the party they supported. Each and every party and elected representative seems to have totally changed their stand, their ideologies and most of the reasons they were elected. Many voters would have voted for the BJP/ShivSena combined to ensure Congress and NCP doesn't come to power and many of the Congress/NCP voters would have done the same to ensure the BJP/ShivSena doesn't come to power. Now they will all have to live with this alliance for as long as it exists. I wonder what issues would be the next election fought on? Would it be Hindutva or Secularism or Development? Only time will tell that. Hoping that our elected representatives would open their eyes and gauge the ground reality and for once stand by the people who elected them!

The many questions that Maharashtra throws up - Is Sena still a Hindtuva party given it's tying up with 'secular' forces? Is Congress really 'secular', joining hands with Sena? Is NCP really a happy family? And is BJP under Modi-Shah really as clever, crafty & Chanakya-like as thought?

I really hope that this would not hamper the development projects (Metro and bullet train) already in place and the political leaders do not follow other examples elsewhere(Sacking the development of Amravathi by Mr. Reddy). Transparency and Development should be the only priority of this government. I sure hope that there won't be any corruption(But I really doubt that ;) ). 

I would like to congratulate the Shiv Sena, Congress and the NCP for forming the government and I hope they would do justice to all their voters. I hope this government will help our suffering farmers, build top quality institutions, improve the state's infrastructure, preserve its rich natural assets & set high standards of environmental norms. 

My best wishes to Mr. Uddhav Thackeray and his cabinet ministers.

As I end this post, I would like to again say that I do not belong to any political party or endorse one. I am not a BHAKT or an Aam Aadmi or a pappu follower. I am just a common man expressing his common views.

Jai Hind _/\_ Jai Maharashtra _/\_

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