At a time when Maharashtra continues to be firmly in the clutches of the Wuhan coronavirus, the three-party Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance simply cannot stop squabbling as the alliance parties blunder their way through governance. After Shiv Sena motormouth Sanjay Raut’s statements deeply upset the Congress leadership, a high-level party delegation met Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray to seek a review on the Common Minimum Program. During the meeting, Congress also sought to highlight the lack of funds granted to its MLAs.
Sitting on the throne of Maharashtra politics is extremely financially rewarding and was perhaps the major reason why the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Indian National Congress came together to form an unholy alliance. However, while the Shiv Sena and NCP continue to have their way in the Uddhav Thackeray led government, it is the Congress that has ended up as a loser as neither does it have any meaningful say in the Maharashtra government nor does it hold any important portfolios or positions. To top it off, the party also has to withstand motormouth Sanjay Raut’s incessant criticisms and praises for Sharad Pawar as like a clockwork Raut continues to parrot his desire to have Sharad Pawar as the next UPA Chairperson, thereby replacing Sonia Gandhi.
A Congress delegation which consisted of HK Patil, Balasaheb Thorat, Nana Patole and Ashok Chavan met Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray to seek a review on the Common Minimum Program where the party conveyed to the CM “the feeling of injustice among our ministers and legislators regarding the allocation of funds,” according to Revenue Minister and senior Congress leader Balasaheb Thorat.
This development comes at a time when former Mumbai Commissioner of Police Param Bir Singh has levelled sensational corruption allegations to the tune of hundreds of crores against State Home Minister Anil Deshmukh who hails from the NCP. Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena ruled BMC has ensured that the party gets a lion’s share of the mayor’s funds while not even allocating a single penny to the BJP’s 80+ corporators.
It seems that in the race to milk Maharashtra, the Congress is feeling hard done by. Earlier in January 2020, Congress leader and Women and Child Development Minister, Yashomati Thakur had laid bare the party’s plan for Maharashtra. While giving a clarion call for corruption, Thakur said, “We didn’t have a government before and now we have taken the oath of office… but we are yet to fill our pockets.”
The Congress leader added, “The people in Opposition are fully stocked with money but if they come to your house (to offer money), then don’t say no. Why drive Lakshmi (Hindu goddess of wealth) away (sic)?”
The last few weeks have brought in a series of challenges for the Maha Vikas Aghadi government of Maharashtra. Firstly the Antilia bomb scare case and then a series of revelations made in the explosive letter of Param Bir Singh have rocked the state. This was followed by Sanjay Raut parroting his desire to have Sharad Pawar as the next UPA Chairperson and even calling Anil Deshmukh the ‘Accidental Home Minister’.
However, in the recent advancements, Congress seems to have missed the limelight and feels overshadowed by Shiv Sena and NCP. Thus, as NCP and Shiv Sena continue fighting each other, Congress too wants to jump into the fray by highlighting the lack of funds granted to its MLAs. The continued existence of the Maha Vikas Aghadi seems to be a masterclass on how not to govern an Indian state.
