The Maha Vikas Aghadi government, that came to power, against the mandate given by the voters of Maharashtra during the Assembly elections in 2019, met its fate due to its deeds. The MVA government failed on almost all fronts and hence it’s tenure will be marked as the ‘black period’ in Maharashtra’s history. This democratic system had never witnessed such a lackadaisical chief minister as it has been experiencing since the last two-and-a-half years during Uddhav Thackeray’s reign.
People of Maharashtra surely must have been reminded of the Tughlaq dynasty during this time. Under the guise of fulfilling his promise to the Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray stabbed the Bharatiya Janata Party in the back and came to power. But he squandered this opportunity.
The Bharatiya Janata Party leadership wasn’t saddened at the loss of power but felt upset as there was blatant insult to the people’s mandate. The state experienced the government’s incompetence, insensitivity and inefficiency especially during the agitation of the ST employees and during the process of securing Maratha reservation and political reservation of the OBCs. The government also showed its insensitivity in dealing with the problems faced by the farmers.
When the state transport employees were agitating for their salary hike, as they are underpaid, and for their other demands in Mumbai, the leadership did not even show the courtesy of meeting these protestors and giving them a patient hearing. The ST employees and their families had gathered in large numbers at Azad Maidan. Since the state transport corporation failed to pay their salaries regularly and on time, nearly 100 ST employees committed suicide. Had the Thackeray government utilised funds from its coffers and taken a quick decision of ensuring that ST workers get their salaries on time, the suicides of these 100 employees could have been averted. Also, Anil Parab, who was the transport minister, was striking a dialogue with the representatives of ST employees as if he was some Mughal emperor. It may be recalled that when Devendra Fadnavis was the chief minister, farmers and advisasis had also staged morchas for their respective demands. But at that time Devendra Fadnavis had made sure that those who had participated in the morchas reach Mumbai without any inconvenience.
Fadnavis had also deployed a representative from the state government to hear their grievances. Sadly, Uddhavrao, who believed in managing the affairs through the online medium and who never bothered to go to Mantralaya, failed to feel the pain and sufferings of these agitating ST employees. The outburst of this pain culminated during the agitation outside the residence of senior Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar. Immediately, the so far dormant Thackeray government got into action mode. The police instantaneously filed charges against these agitating employees and their families. Had this government shown the same promptness in meeting the demands of the agitating ST employees, the government would not have been cursed by them.
When the state government reduced the excise duty on foreign liquor by 50 per cent, it did not worry about the burden this decision would have on the state exchequer. But it kept complaining about the dire state of the state’s coffers when it came to increasing or paying the salaries of the ST employees on time. Uddhavrao did not even feel the need to call on the representatives of these striking ST employees to his residence Matoshri to hear their grievances and to strike a dialogue. Now, after stepping down from the position of the chief minister, many journalists and intellectuals have got a realisation that Uddhavrao is an extremely gentle, simple and a humble politician. They believe that there is a huge wave of sympathy in his favour. Unfortunately, all these journalists and intellectuals did not feel like asking him why he was silent during the strike called by ST employees.
The journalists and intellectuals did not mind the indecent language of this decent, cultured and humble chief minister. They did not show the courage to question Uddhavrao when he openly made a statement ‘Is Vaze Bin Laden?’ These intellectuals whose logics and writing potential has got rusted in the last two-and-a-half years, are now frustrated with the recent government formation with the alliance of the BJP and the Shiv Sena. Since Eknath Shinde quit the MVA alliance, he is being criticised by the media. But when Uddhavrao had left the pre-election alliance with the BJP and joined hands with the Congress-NCP fold, these journalists and intellectuals did not see anything immoral in it. Whatever you sow, you shall reap.
The actual worth of the ruler is judged during difficult times. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman lawyer, writer and orator, who is known for his orations on politics and society had said ‘More is lost by indecision than wrong decision. Indecision is the thief of opportunity’. Uddhav Thackeray’s innate tendency of not taking quick decision was proved twice, once during the Supreme Court’s hearing on Maratha reservation and also during the apex court’s hearing on OBCs political reservation.
The Fadnavis government had overcome several legal hurdles and managed to get reservation for the Maratha community. It was also upheld during the initial hearing at the Supreme Court. But later, the state witnessed the inefficiency of the Thackeray government in the ensuing legal battle. If one sees the manner in which the Maharashtra government had tried to represent the case in the Supreme Court, it will clearly show how the MVA government was absolutely not in favour of getting reservation for the Maratha community.
Uddhavrao also failed as a chief minister while dealing with the OBC reservation. The Supreme Court had asked the government to submit the empirical data to decide quantum of political reservation for the OBC community. For this, all the legal proceedings like appointment of a dedicated commission had to be carried out immediately. As the head of the state, it was the chief minister’s job to execute the formalities. But he failed on this front as well. The chief minister was extremely reluctant to appoint the backward class commission and to provide the necessary help from the government and as a result the necessary legal procedure for the OBC community could not be completed within the stipulated time. If the ruler is only lackadaisical the entire province and the people have to face the brunt. It was owing to this indifference that the political reservation of the OBC community got cancelled. It assumes that the MVA government did not want to give reservation to the Maratha community, nor was it willing to give political reservation to the OBC community.
In the Hindu epic Mahabharata, Bhishma Pitamaha, while lying on the bed of arrows, called on Yudhisthira, the eldest Pandava and said ‘Kaalo va karanam, raagyo raajaa vaa kaalakaranam! Iti tey sanshayo ma bhoodraajaa kaalasya kaaranam’. Bhishma’s advice to Yudhishthir was that he must not get into the predicament whether is it the time or the King who is responsible for the happenings during the era.
The truth is that undoubtedly the main cause of all the
happenings in a country is the way the king (in current context the government)
manages its affairs. And during Uddhav Thackeray’s reign, the state government
and the Shiv Sena found themselves inthe same bind. It is for these people now
to accept the reality and stop blaming, cribbing and complaining about the
recent changes in the state. Whatever is happening is for the good of the
state, is all that I can say.
(Pre publish in Times of India 11 July 2022)
Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson.
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