In the last few days, there had been several rounds of discussions over
the alleged controversial statements in the state. Even if it was ‘Nano’, but
still the Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders managed to take out their morcha. Losing
power in the state followed by a series of developmental works undertaken by
the Shinde – Fadnavis government, the parties in the Opposition are left with
no issues to target and criticise the governing parties. And hence they are
resorting to spreading rumours. Some members from the media and intellectuals
are also participating and helping them spread fake news.
The incompetence of the Maha Vikas Aghadi governance for two-and-a-half
years was detrimental for Maharashtra. Till October 2019, the state of
Maharashtra was fast moving on the path of development. But in the last
two-and-a-half years of MVA’s governance it went way behind. The inflow of
investments into the state reduced drastically. Projects like Vedanta Foxconn
moved out of Maharashtra to other states. The state’s home minister was found
setting recovery targets of Rs 100 crore to the Mumbai Police. Maharashtra also
witnessed an officer from Mumbai Police force parking a car laden with
explosives outside the residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani. This was
Maharashtra’s progress. It will not be an exaggeration if we say that
Maharashtra had surpassed even some state which is infamous in the country for
its ‘Jungle Raaj’.
Maharashtra also witnessed how the former chief minister ordered the
entire police force to get into action to arrest Union minister Narayan Rane.
It saw that after demolishing the construction of actor Kangana Ranaut’s
residence, Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena had celebrated as if it was victory
over China. It was hilarious to see them shout ‘ukhad diya’. Maharashtra also
saw how cases were filed across the state against Marathi actor Ketaki Chitale
for her controversial content against senior NCP leader Sharad Pawar. It was
not hidden that the purpose behind this was only to torture her mentally and to
force her to visit every police station and respective courts in the state.
Oppression, ruthlessness and brutality – that is how one can define
Maha Vikas Aghadi’s governance. And then all this came to an end with the
formation of BJP – Balasaheb’s Shiv Sena alliance government. The MVA leaders
were under the impression that no one will be able to dethrone them. But they
were brought to terms six months ago and thus their desperation. Frustrated,
they resorted to dirty politics of spreading false news about the
Shinde-Fadnavis government that is in fact on a spree of executing
developmental works in the state.
The MVA leaders began bad mouthing and spreading lies about the Belgaum
border issue, about the statement made by the Governor and also about the
statement made by Chandrakantada Patil. They even surpassed Goebbels in this
regard. After the Nazi Party came to power in Germany in 1933, Goebbels, a
loyal ally of Hitler, had gained complete control over the media in Germany.
Goebbels had proposed the ‘big lie theory’ – where a gross misrepresentation of
truth is used especially as a propaganda technique. He is believed to have
said, ‘a lie told once remains a lie but a lie told a thousand times becomes
the truth’. During the Second World War, Germany was falling behind the allies
and at that time Goebbels spread the news in Germany that Germany would win
with the help and strength of Hitler’s secret weapons. Today, the Maha Vikas
Aghadi leaders have outdone even Goebbels theory in spreading false information.
A few months ago, i.e., since the Shinde-Fadnavis government came to
power, the MVA leaders claimed that the industries that were to come to
Maharashtra went to Telangana and Gujarat. But people have not forgotten that
it was one of Maha Vikas Aghadi government’s industry minister, Subhash Desai
only who had publicly admitted that it was not possible to have Vedanta-Foxconn
project here in Maharashtra. Now, after the Aghadi government lost power,
former chief minister’s son, by flashing some documents, declared that the
Foxconn project went to Gujarat during the tenure of the incumbent
Shinde-Fadnavis government. In fact, Vedanta-Foxconn’s Anil Agarwal had tweeted
and presented facts in this regard. Since there was no follow-up in terms of
land, water and other basic infrastructure facilities during the Maha Vikas
Aghadi government’s tenure, it was decided that the Vedanta-Foxconn project
will move out of Maharashtra and go to Gujarat. Still, these MVA leaders are
constantly talking about Foxconn.
In a similar manner, the leaders of the Aghadi spread news that Saffron
went to Telangana. In fact, the chief of Saffron had, on March 2, 2021, tweeted
that Saffron is starting its project in Hyderabad. The project was also
inaugurated in 2021. But still, the leaders of the Aghadi repeatedly claim that
this project went to Telangana during the tenure of the Shinde-Fadnavis
government.
It is said that everything is fair in love, politics and war. In
politics, at times, accusations are made against the opponent. But lies can not
be told while making such accusations. The Aghadi members have forgotten this
limit. Defying all legal prohibitions, these leaders of the Aghadi are
rampantly spreading false information in a manner that even a lie would feel
ashamed.
There was a huge uproar after the statement made by the Governor. But a
similar statement was made by NCP state president Jayant Patil where he
compared NCP chief Sharad Pawar with Chhatrapti Shivrai, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar
and Mahatma Phule. Not a single voice of protest was heard after this
comparison made by Jayant Patil. Uddhavrao and his supporters were angry with
Chandrakantdada Patil for his remarks regarding the educational works of great
men. But when Chandrakantdada showed what Prabodhankar Thackeray, Uddhavrao’s
grandfather had only said in this regard citing a reference from Prabodhankar’s
book ‘Majhi Jeevankatha”, Uddhavrao quieted.
Similarly, false news about the Karnataka border issue was doing
rounds. In fact, it may be recalled that when the Karnataka border issue arose,
the Congress was in power at the Centre, in Maharashtra and also in Karnataka.
But still, this dispute could not be resolved for so many years. Currently,
this issue is pending in the Supreme Court and hence it is inappropriate for
the leaders of the Aghadi to spread false news that Karnataka government will
take over 40 villages of Maharashtra. Since the matter is sub judice, it will
create confusion. The Aghadi leaders seem to be unaware about it. But the
common man is aware and will not easily get carried away with such fake news.
Despite this bad mouthing, the Aghadi did not manage to garner and
gather even 30,000 people for their morcha in Mumbai. And hence it is proved
that not only the common man but even their ordinary workers are not believing
in their fake news. Despite being slapped in the face many a times, the MVA
members do not seem to have got any wisdom. In politics it is important to
maintain the balance as to how low can one stoop in accusing and criticising
the opponents. But the MVA leaders, in their blame-game seem to have forgotten
about it. They fail to realise that truth will definitely prevail.
Before I conclude, I would like to remind Maha Vikas Aghadi members
that Goebbels, whose policy they are adopting, had also said that ‘There will
come a day when all the lies will collapse under their own weight and truth
will again triumph’.
(Article Pre-Published in Times of India –26 Dec. 2022)
Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson
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