MVA turns 2: ‘No public celebrations to mark its second anniversary’

“There are no public celebrations to mark the MVA government’s second anniversary. One reason is that the chief minister is recuperating after his surgery. The Covid-19 crisis is yet to pass, and this may be another reason,” explained a Shiv Sena legislator

While the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government under Uddhav Thackeray has proved its sceptics wrong by completing two years in office, the celebrations are muted due to Thackeray’s recuperation from a spine surgery and the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, whose economic and social ramifications are not conducive to a large-scale commemoration. The looming threat of a third wave of the virus has also played a role of a dampener.

As the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government under Uddhav Thackeray turns two, Sena legislator says that there won’t be any public celebrations to mark their second anniversary.

The state government has not organised any public event to mark its second anniversary. While Thackeray is recovering after his surgery, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar, seen as the anchor and troubleshooter of the alliance, is in Delhi for the impending session of the Parliament. However, Thackeray issued a statement asserting that the government had stood up to “natural and man-made disasters” and would continue to do so in the future. Promising to work for the common man, he thanked citizens for their support.

“There are no public celebrations to mark the MVA government’s second anniversary. One reason is that the chief minister is recuperating after his surgery. The Covid-19 crisis is yet to pass, and this may be another reason,” explained a Shiv Sena legislator.

“At present, the situation is not conducive for a celebration. Though we have completed two years in office, there is a lot of work that remains to be done. Those who have tried to destabilise the government have failed miserably. The government has worked in adverse situations under the leadership of Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, particularly while handling the Covid-19 crisis,” said Shiv Sena Lok Sabha MP and spokesperson Arvind Sawant.

A senior Congress leader said that the MVA’s biggest achievement was completing two years while proving the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—whose leaders vicariously give fresh deadlines for the collapse of the government—wrong. “Joining hands to form a government was an imperative for the three parties considering the BJP’s onslaught and their impending existential crisis. We have completed two years in office, but the real challenges may crop up in the future as the 2024 elections approach, and an intense eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation between the MVA and the BJP may be in the offing,” he explained.

Minority development minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik said that the state government was on an austerity drive due to the Covid crisis and splurging on publicity to mark its second anniversary would be inappropriate. However, it will publicise the decisions taken by it in the last two years, after Thackeray was discharged from hospital.

Opposition BJP said the two years of MVA have been of no use for the state.

“There is no governance in Maharashtra for the past two years,” charged BJP MLA Atul Bhatkhalkar, while charging that the MVA government was blaming the Centre for every failure from the Covid crisis to the monsoons. He said that Maharashtra was becoming a “rogue state” under this regime.

Prakash Pawar, political analyst and professor, department of political science at the Shivaji University, Kolhapur, said more than any internal wrangling or fissures between the allies, Thackeray’s surgery may have put a spoke in the plans. While the Shiv Sena and the NCP were quick to claim credit for any achievements, the Congress traditionally dithered in doing so, and was also in a state of confusion, he observed.