Maharashtra bandh: Show of strength by MVA over UP violence to counter BJP’s attacks

By enforcing the Maharashtra bandh together, the three MVA parties have put up a united face, which could help them in forthcoming local body elections

Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA), the three-party coalition which formed the government in the state two years ago, put up its first joint show of strength on Monday’s state-wide shutdown or bandh. Though it was in solidarity with farmers in the wake of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, the ruling coalition has now taken an aggressive stand against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Narendra Modi-led Central government. At Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri, farmers were allegedly mowed down by the son of a minister in Modi’s government.

Shops shut owing to the bandh in Akola, Maharashtra, on Monday. (HT PHOTO)

The MVA parties, while expressing solidarity with the farmers, have tried to paint the picture that the BJP was against them. MVA was criticised for bringing inconvenience to the citizens who are already troubled due to the Covid-enforced lockdown, but it succeeded in making the Lakhimpur Kheri incident a talking point across the state. Besides, by enforcing the bandh together, the three parties have also put up a united face, which could help them in forthcoming local body elections. Significantly, the ruling coalition’s aggression is seen as its response to the Centre’s action – several MVA leaders are facing probe by central agencies.

The MVA government, comprising the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress, has been facing challenges posed by the opposition BJP and the Central government led by it ever since it came to power in November 2019. It began with the clashes between the Centre and MVA government over the transfer of probe in the Bhima-Koregaon violence and the Sushant Singh Rajput death cases. The state government has been cornered by BJP over the issues of corruption by its leaders and ministers regularly. Many Shiv Sena and NCP leaders have been facing action by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income-Tax (I-T) authorities. The ruling party leaders have claimed the action to be out of political vendetta and have also raised questions on why the agencies do not go after any BJP leader.

“Fed up with the daily bashing, the three parties saw the outrage over mowing down the farmers as an opportunity. Our leadership was upset over the treatment meted out to its leader Priyanka Gandhi in UP during the incident, while the other two parties [Shiv Sena and NCP] were already upset over action against their leaders by the Centre using the agencies. The success of the bandh has helped MVA combine in many ways to score over the opposition,” said a senior Congress leader, requesting anonymity of name.

The three ruling parties ensured that the bandh, which was happening after a long duration in the state, was successful.

“Keeping auto-taxis and buses off the road and shutting shops in Mumbai, Thane and other parts of MMR (Mumbai Metropolitan Region) without Shiv Sena’s involvement was not possible. The other two parties [Congress and NCP] took responsibility of the region of their dominance in Vidarbha, western Maharashtra etc. Traders and their unions were taken into confidence to ensure that they keep the establishments shut. In some cases, state administration, too, was utilised to keep the activities shut,” said an NCP leader.

The state cabinet on Wednesday had passed a resolution to condemn the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. Any such resolution in the cabinet for an incident in some other state is rarely passed, but the three ruling parties were unanimous on it. Similarly, the decision of the bandh was taken unanimously, though it was initiated by NCP. Party chief Sharad Pawar’s appeal to the people in the backdrop of the I-T raids on his nieces, too, had helped charge up NCP leaders to actively participate in bandh.

Political analyst Hemant Desai said that the bandh was successful and it could politically help the three ruling parties.

“They have put up a joint show of strength against BJP, which is their common political rival. It was necessary for MVA for two reasons: first, BJP is leaving no opportunity to target the three ruling parties, and giving it back was necessary for the ruling alliance. Secondly, MVA government has not been able to perform anything big that can be showcased. The bandh was an attempt to keep that failure under the carpet. The success of the bandh will, however, help the ruling parties in the forthcoming local body as well as in the 2024-Assembly elections,” he said.

Leader of opposition in the legislative Assembly Devendra Fadnavis said that the three ruling parties are trying to gain political mileage out of the issue.

“They have nothing to do with the farmers. Farmers had been fired at in Pune’s Maval 10 years ago during the Congress-led government’s rule. The Congress-led Rajasthan government had heavily lathicharged farmers two days ago. The state government has not been able to offer any relief to the flood-affected farmers in Marathwada and now they are protesting the incident in Lakhimpur. They are shredding crocodile’s tears,” he said.

“This is a state-sponsored bandh implemented with the help of the police and administration. Traders and their unions were threatened to participate in it. The ruling parties misused the police and administration to impose the bandh.”