Eknath Shinde, then and now
With indications from Delhi that Shinde will be the face of the three-party alliance in the assembly elections, none of the BJP leaders chose to go against him
Chief minister Eknath Shinde, who completed two years in office on Sunday, has emerged as the dominant leader in the ruling Mahayuti alliance. This is a picture in contrast with his first anniversary in office a year ago when his alliance partner BJP had strongly objected to his advertisement campaign showing him as the most popular choice for chief ministership.
Following BJP’s objections, Shinde and his party colleagues went on the backfoot and fresh advertisements were issued with pictures of both Shinde and deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who was missing in the first ads. Days later, Ajit Pawar split the NCP and BJP gleefully included him and his MLAs in the government. It was assumed then that Shinde’s wings had been clipped as the government’s survival was not dependant on his MLAs anymore. A year and a Lok Sabha election later, things have changed.
The state’s annual budget presented on Friday also had Shinde’s stamp on it. Five schemes in the budget were in the CM’s name. Immediately after the budget was presented in the state legislature, hoardings came up across the city showing Shinde’s face prominently and a slogan in Marathi, “Madaticha hat, Eknath (Helping hand of Eknath).” The hoardings mention four government schemes announced in the budget - ₹1,500 per month aid to women, apprenticeship for youth with upto ₹10,000 stipend, three free cooking gas cylinders a year for each household and free electricity for farmers—all with Mukhyamantri (chief minister) in their name.
The difference between then and now is that the BJP leaders have maintained silence. There is a reason for it. State BJP leaders who complained to the party top brass against Shinde’s style of functioning as well as his alleged support to Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil which put BJP in trouble, were told to introspect why Shinde won six Lok Sabha seats while the party could win only nine despite having double the number of MLAs than him. Following BJP’s debacle in Maharashtra, Fadnavis is unlikely to get a free hand in the state. With indications from Delhi that Shinde will be the face of the three-party alliance in the assembly elections, none of the BJP leaders chose to go against him. On the other hand, with his rout in the Lok Sabha election, Ajit Pawar is also on the backfoot.
No chief ministerial face
With the MVA winning 30 LS seats and leading in more than half the assembly segments in it, the three parties in the opposition coalition are confident of winning the assembly elections later this year. Little wonder then that names of at least half a dozen chief ministerial candidates are already doing the rounds. As Congress won more seats than its allies, state unit chief Nana Patole’s aides are already describing him as future chief minister. In his party, he has competition from four others including Congress legislative party chief Balasaheb Thorat. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut has already suggested that former CM Uddhav Thackeray should be the face of the MVA. The leaders in Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) are batting for MP Supriya Sule. NCP (SP) state president Jayant Patil has been nursing the CM dream for a long time.
Sharad Pawar has sought to put an end to this discussion by saying that the MVA would not need the face of an individual leader. In a recent meeting in Delhi, the Congress top brass too advised its state leaders not to get into the ‘big brother’ debate and reminded them that the assembly elections will have to be fought as a coalition. But will that stop the clamour for the chair?
First woman chief secretary
Sixty-four years after the state was formed, Maharashtra has got its first woman chief secretary. Senior IAS officer Sujata Saunik took over as chief secretary, the head of the state administration on Sunday. On several occasions in the past, there were opportunities to choose a woman officer for the post but then chief ministers and ruling parties preferred male officers.
On different occasions, Chitkala Zutshi, Chandra Iyengar and some other officers were in the zone of consideration but never made it to the top post. She was also in the race twice earlier but first her husband Manoj Saunik and later Nitin Kareer were preferred. The glass ceiling has finally been broken.
Did Class 8 pass vote in graduates’ election?
During the elections to four legislative council seats that was held on June 26, the BJP’s got all its local leaders to get down to work. Among them was former Mira-Bhayander MLA Narendra Mehta. He posted pictures on his social media account showing his inked index finger. That led the opposition leaders to raise an objection: How did Mehta vote when he was not a graduate? Going by his election affidavits filed earlier, his educational qualification is Class 8 pass.