Uddhavrao has reaped the fruits of his karma

 

The coalition government of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the genuine Shiv Sena has completed 100 days of governance in Maharashtra. Over the last 100 days people of Maharashtra have witnessed the efficiency with which this government has toiled. Since this government, under the leadership of Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis completed their 100 days in power, the former chief minister of the state exhibited his disappointment during the Dussehra rally at Shivaji Park in Dadar. Uddhav Thackeray, during his two-and-a-half year’s tenure as the chief minister of the state, miserably failed to take any decision in favour of the people. But after stepping down from the position, he left no stone unturned to express his grief and curse the incumbent coalition. Seeing his anguish at his loss of power, I can only wish him ‘Get Well Soon’.

After becoming the chief minister by betraying the Bharatiya Janata Party, Uddhavrao should have followed the footsteps of his patriarch venerable Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray. He should have made the best use of the golden opportunity that he had got by taking decisions in the interests of the poor and the common man to make Maharashtra indeed a rich and prosperous state. But he squandered this opportunity. And now, Maharashtra will have to bear the consequences of his lackadaisical approach for the next few years. In the backdrop of the various public welfare decisions taken during these 100 days of the Shinde-Fadnavis government, the inactive administration of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government during its two-and-a-half-year tenure glaringly comes to the fore.

After the Maha Vikas Aghadi government came to power, Uddhavrao exhibited his narrow-mindedness on several occasions during his tenure and deliberately revoked the decisions taken by Devendra Fadnavis during his 5-year tenure as the chief minister for the overall development of the state. Project like the Metro-3, that has the potential of changing the suburban rail travel in Mumbai, was put on hold by Uddhavrao. Uddhavrao, who is not aware of the agony of the suburban rail commuters, showed his ‘Tughlaq-style’ attitude by suspending this Metro project. It may also be recalled that Uddhavrao had only opposed the Nagpur-Mumbai Samriddhi Mahamarg project that would have revolutionised the state’s infrastructure sector. Once again this was a developmental project proposed by Devendra Fadnavis as the chief minister.

Recently, there was a lot of discussion over the ‘Vedanta-Foxconn’ project going to Gujarat. Devendra Fadnavis had put in great efforts to bring this project to Maharashtra. But later, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government with their so-called “honest efforts” and their “follow-ups” with the company, left no option for the ‘Vedanta-Foxconn’ to withdraw itself from Maharashtra. Also, during the tenure of the Fadnavis government, various concessions were announced for the industries. But later Uddhavrao’s government ensured that these industries shell out a percentage to enjoy these subsidies. Uddhavrao failed to realise that under such circumstances, no investor will be willing to invest in Maharashtra. Uddhavrao really tried hard to obstruct the Nanar project that had the potential to change the face of industrial development in the state. It is obvious that any investor before investing in a particular state, thoroughly scrutinises and evaluates not just the concessions and subsidies offered by the concerned state government but also observes the political scenario and the mentality of the ruling government. Industrialists were absolutely shocked to see Uddhavrao, who had opposed the Nanar project, become the chief minister of the state.

The country saw the brutal extortionist face of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in the incident of explosive-laden car being parked outside the residence of businessman Mukesh Ambani. During the lockdown period, the Modi government, under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, implemented free distribution of foodgrains to prevent the poor from starving. But during the same period, Uddhavrao’s government did not spend a single penny to help the poor. The governments of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Gujarat provided financial aid to farmers and the different sections of society who live a hand-to-mouth life. Uddhavrao, instead, lowered the revenue of the state by reducing the excise duty on foreign liquor. He announced farmers’ loan waiver scheme, but the common farmer failed to get any benefit. The Shinde-Fadnavis government, on the contrary, announced an incentive grant of Rs 50,000 each to those farmers who regularly repaid their loans and immediately ensured that the amount gets credited to the farmer’s respective bank accounts. Compensation of Rs. 755 crore was also given to all the farmers affected by floods and disasters, irrespective whether they deserved or not to receive help from the government. When he was the chief minister, Uddhavrao rarely ventured out of his house and did not even show the courtesy to visit and comfort the disaster-affected farmers. Evidence of how the Thackeray government had hatched conspiracies and tried to implicate leaders like Devendra Fadnavis and other Bharatiya Janata Party leaders by filing false cases, was presented in the Assembly. The Thackeray government had put all its might to implicate the smallest of the worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party in false crimes. It is unfortunate that a veteran politician like Sharad Pawar did not show the courage to tell Uddhavrao that it is incorrect to run the government with this kind of vengeance. Uddhavrao has reaped the fruits of his karma.

Uddhavrao, who constantly pointed fingers at the central government during his tenure as the chief minister, failed to reduce VAT on petrol and diesel. The Shinde-Fadnavis government, on the other hand, immediately slashed the VAT on petrol and diesel by Rs 5 and Rs 3 respectively and gave relief to the people of the state as soon as they came to power. The Shinde-Fadnavis government showed the courage to bear the financial loss that this decision would bring to the state exchequer. This same courage could have been shown by Uddhavrao as well. But instead of helping the common man save some money, he was more interested in filling the pockets of the foreign liquor manufacturers. He had argued that reduction in VAT on petrol and diesel will increase the burden on the state exchequer. But was he not concerned about the state coffers when he reduced the excise on foreign liquor.

During the Dussehra rally, Uddhavrao expressed his concern over rising inflation. Unfortunately, when Uddhavrao was in power, he did not have the time to pay attention to issues like inflation. Now that he is no longer in power, Shivaji Park witnessed the hypocrite face of Uddhavrao who shed crocodile tears over rising inflation. During lockdown since many farmers, small businessmen and traders defaulted payments of their electricity bills, Uddhavrao’s government insolently cut off the electricity supply to them. The frustration of losing power was felt during Uddhavrao’s speech at the rally in Shivaji Park.

When you get something by treachery, it usually does not last long. There was a hope that Uddhavrao must have learnt this harsh political wisdom after losing power. Uddhavrao backed Nawab Malik, who had worked towards protecting the interests of underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s gang that had carried out serial bomb blasts in Mumbai. And after losing power, he is now reminded of Hindutva. Citing health reasons Uddhavrao, who refrained from moving out of the house, is now forced to do so. This is nothing but his destiny. After the demolition of Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut’s house, the congregations who expressed their joy saying ‘Ukhaad Diya’ are slowly beginning to realise the harsh reality after losing power. This is destiny. They reaped the fruits of their karma. Uddhavrao vented out his frustration in the form of abuses and curses during the rally at Shivaji Park. The common man is not naïve. ‘Sahyadri’ knows the difference between a committed activist and a ruler who refrains from reaching out to people and instead manages the affairs of the state by sitting indoors. Probably people will get to experience this frustration over and over again. That’s it for now.

Before I conclude, I would like to bring to the notice that Manohar Joshi, who was insulted a few years ago at Shivaji Park, was asked to sit on the podium during the rally at Shivaji Park on October 5. This reiterates that everyone has to bow to fate. Tall claims were made that an ocean of staunch followers will flock Shivaji Park. But since there was dearth of old staunch followers, the party had to ask those leaders who had joined just a few years ago to speak during the rally. As long as Uddhavrao stays blindfolded, he will not realise who the party’s true loyalists are.

(Article Pre-Published in Times of India Online – 10 Oct.2022)

Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson