Labyrinth of fake narratives

A massive effort was launched to disseminate false narrative about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party, citing things like the CAA and Constitution getting altered. In addition to this, in Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis is similarly being slandered over the Maratha reservation issue. The Bharatiya Janata Party was impacted by this negative campaign during the Lok Sabha elections. In fact, the regret expressed by Devendra Fadnavis while speaking at the BJP Legislature Party meet was indeed a reflection of the effects of the fake narratives, creating a stir in politics. While Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray won support from the electorate despite not proposing any decision in favour of Maratha reservation, Fadnavis bemoaned at BJP garnering such hostility despite fulfilling everything in favour of the reservation.

As the chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis had established the Annasaheb Patil Arthik Magas Vikas Mahamandal. Through this corporation, business loans are provided to the youth of the Maratha community, the interest for which is paid by the corporation, i.e., the state government. This scheme has benefitted nearly 70,375 youths and loan amount to the tune of Rs 5,220 crore has been disbursed. For a period of 15 years, from 1999 to 2014, the state was governed by the Congress-NCP coalition. But the Maratha youth never received loans in this manner. In fact, the community’s youth never received a penny from this government.

Fadnavis also played a key role in the establishment of the Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Research, Training and Human Development Institute or SARTHI, that offers scholarships to Maratha students who want to achieve academic excellence. The decision to provide scholarship worth Rs 60 lakh for an MS degree and Rs 1.60 crore for PhD was taken by Fadnavis. This scheme helped around 75 youngsters from the Maratha community who wanted to pursue studies overseas. Additionally, 23,224 students studying in Grade IX to Grade XI were given scholarships to the tune of Rs 31 crore under the Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj Sarthi initiative. It was under the Sarthi initiative that Fadnavis had started the practice of awarding scholarships to students preparing to write the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) and Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examinations.

It must be mentioned here that Uddhav Thackeray – Sharad Pawar’s government that ruled for about two-and-a-half years had ceased providing financial assistance under Sarthi. It may be recalled that during Uddhav Thackeray’s tenure as the chief minister, former MP Subodh Mohite and the then MP Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje had staged hunger strike outside Sarthi’s office protesting its closure and to demand that funds be disbursed under the scheme in the similar manner. Unfortunately, despite Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar’s flagrant disregard for Sarthi and not providing scholarships to Maratha youth, none of the protestors seem to be uttering a word against them.

The Maratha reservation issue had erupted in the state during Devendra Fadnavis’s tenure as chief minister. The state-wide marches conducted by the Maratha community created a stir. Even during this trying time, Fadnavis had handled the issue calmly and made a number of important decisions. Some people had taken to using the foulest language possible on social media to criticize Fadnavis. Fadnavis remained undeterred. He persisted in providing facilities and concessions to the Maratha community till the issue of reservation was decided. He was the one who decided to grant the concession given to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) to the Maratha community and open dorms for Maratha students. Also, waiving Maratha students’ education loans up to Rs 10 lakh and reducing their fees to half wasn’t an easy task as doing so would have placed a significant financial strain on the government coffers. But Fadnavis took those decisions without hesitation.

Following the declaration of Maratha reservation, the court ruled that reservation for medical courses will not be applicable. This angered the karyakartas of the Maratha Kranti Morcha who again started talking about launching an agitation against the government. During that time, a suggestion was made to Fadnavis that the Maratha students be allowed to take admission to private medical colleges and that the government will bear the burden of their educational fees. At that time, Fadnavis, who was the Chief Minister, said that the students must pay fees equivalent to the government medical colleges and the remaining fees will be paid by the government. The government was supposed to set aside Rs 28 crore for the same. No sooner did the figures arrive, Fadnavis immediately gave his approval for the same. The state government also issued an ordinance regarding Maratha youth admittance to medical colleges. Making such decisions aren’t easy as it calls for setting aside a few hundreds of crores. His government could have easily relaxed and pointed fingers at the court’s ruling.

When Supreme Court was hearing arguments into the Maratha reservation issue, Uddhav Thackeray had assumed the role of chief minister with backing from the Congress and Sharad Pawar. When the matter was being heard, Uddhav Thackeray-Sharad Pawar changed the lawyer. Even worse, the Supreme Court was not provided with the translation of the report that was prepared about the entire reservation issue. In a letter to Uddhav Thackeray, Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje had questioned why the government had substituted another attorney. He had also brought up in this letter the fact that the state government’s attorney was not present at the Supreme Court hearing.

Chhatrapati Sambhajiraje had also warned Uddhav Thackeray that the state administration needs to give reservation issue significant consideration or else it would have to brace forharsh repercussions. Mukul Rohatgi, a prominent attorney, was chosen by the state government to represent the Maratha reservation case in the Supreme Court. Rohatgi had officially acknowledged in the court that they were unable to build a compelling case as they were not receiving information and documentation from the state government representatives. Mukul Rohatgi’s statement made it to the news. Fadnavis had also publicly advised the state government to take cognizance and precautions in this regard. But Rohatgi was not given serious consideration by the Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena government. Sharad Pawar and Uddhav Thackeray also failed to identify who was responsible for not providing the desired information and documents to the lawyers. Today, both Pawar and UBT have managed to get out of this issue whereas Fadnavis is being singled out and accused for no reason.

In politics, disagreement, criticism, accusations and recriminations are inevitable and occur frequently. It depresses to see accusations being levelled against Fadnavis and false narratives being spread about him. Fadnavis is capable of overcoming this maze of false narratives and emerge victorious. In the words of a famous Marathi poet and lecturer Shaheer Datta Sonawane – ‘waghachya jabdyat ghalooni haat, mojito data, jaat hi amuchi paha, chalun pane amuchya itihasachi…’ which means ‘put your hands in the tiger’s jaws, count the teeth, look at us, sift through the pages of our history…’ Knowing Fadnavis well, I am confident that he surely will come out of this labyrinth.

(Article Pre-Published in Times of India -17 June  2024)

Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson