Prof. Manav – Puppet or Poppet?

Prof. Shyam Manav, the founder of the Akhil Bharatiya Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (All India Superstition Eradication Committee) recently made some glaring comments aimed at deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. There is no reason to take issue to Manav’s criticism. Our democracy gives every citizen the right to object to decisions made by the union and the state government and hence his criticism is also welcome. But Manav’s criticism is way beyond this constitutional framework.

Manav claimed that former state home minister Anil Deshmukh was under pressure from Devendra Fadnavis who had conspired to put leaders like Aaditya Thackeray, Uddhav Thackeray and Anil Parab behind bars. According to Manav, Fadnavis was exerting pressure on Deshmukh to implicate Uddhav Thackeray in the money laundering fraud of Rs 100 crore, Aaditya Thackeray in the rape and murder of Disha Salian and Anil Parab in illicit dealings. Also, according to Prof. Manav, Deshmukh was put in jail because he refused to comply with these demands.

    Maharashtra has seen how Prof. Shyam Manav had strongly opposed superstition and also how he was successful in getting a legislation passed against it. Manav had initiated a movement where he toured different villages, gave lectures and persuaded people to reject superstition. He was indeed a karyakarta of a significant movement. But no one knew his affiliations with prominent politicians. Interestingly, Deshmukh had never uttered a word about any such pressure on him. And hence any rational individual would wonder how Manav knew about the pressures.

What baffles me is that, has Manav forgotten about how and why Anil Deshmukh’s rapid incarceration took place. A short recap – in March 2021, Parambir Singh, the Mumbai Police Commissioner at the time, alleged that the then home minister Anil Deshmukh had set a monthly target of Rs 100 crore to be recovered from Mumbai. This allegation had got a lot of disgrace to Maharashtra. Later, on the directives of the Mumbai High Court, the CBI filed a case against Anil Deshmukh and a few others based on its preliminary findings. Subsequently, acting on Mumbai High Court’s directives, the Central Intelligence Agency also filed a case against Deshmukh. Fadnavis wasn’t responsible in any of these issues, nor did he cast any spell or practiced witchcraft. But if Manav’s intellect refuses to accept the facts pointed out by the High Court and the intelligence agencies, I have nothing to say. Attempting to associate Fadnavis with it when, in reality, he had no connection at all and publicly accusing him is only evidence of Manav’s ‘superstitious’ behaviour.

 

The Socialist ideology that Manav represents was once known to be Congress’s most ardent adversary. In fact, senior Socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia had come up with the ‘anti-Congressism’ concept. He was the driving force behind the formation of governments of Samyukta Vidhayak Dal, a coalition of parties including the Bharatiya Kranti Dal, Samyukta Socialist Party, Praja Socialist Party and Jana Sangh in several North Indian states in 1967. The coalition had opposed the Congress that had hitherto single-handedly dominated Indian politics. Manav must be aware of this history, I’m sure.

As time went by, the Socialists’ political influence progressively began to reduce. The BJP gradually began to take up the Opposition position in the political sphere, competing with the Congress. Around that time, the Socialist leaders tried to support the Congress, their longtime adversary, with whatever little might they were left with. The reason I am narrating a part of this history is to show how Manav, a karyakarta of Socialist ideology, continues to be an ardent opponent of the Bharatiya Janata Party. There is absolutely no issue if anybody wishes to criticise the BJP. But while subjecting BJP leaders both, at the Centre and the state to criticisms, there should be at least some rationale behind it.

It seems Manav, who alleges that Anil Deshmukh was jailed because he refused to speak against Uddhav Thackeray, seems to conveniently disregard the facts that transpired at the time. Interestingly, neither Uddhav Thackeray nor his executive editor ever levelled similar accusations against Fadnavis. Also, senior leader Sharad Pawar had never mentioned anything of this sort in public. Satirically it appears that the dog squad assigned to unearth the mystery of why Manav should have thrown a ‘poppet’ at Fadnavis traces to have reached a Baramati hostel. When Manav went beyond all reason and showed his dissent for the BJP, he actually demonstrated whose ‘puppet’ he is. Now, as the Assembly elections draw closer, more and more of these puppets will appear. I am confident that the electorate will not fall for such puppets. And the BJP leadership is capable enough to thwart such doers of black magic.

 

(Article Pre-Published in Times of India Online – 29 July 2024)

Keshav Upadhye, Chief Spokesperson