Why the Opposition’s plans fizzled out

Strap: All three parties in the MVA were not on the same page when it came to going after CM Eknath Shinde over the Nagpur land case

Strap: All three parties in the MVA were not on the same page when it came to going after CM Eknath Shinde over the Nagpur land case. According to chatter in political circles, a top opposition politician doesn’t want to weaken Shinde at this juncture

Nagpur, Dec 30 (ANI): Leader of Opposition in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Ajit Pawar with Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) MLAs stage a protest demanding the removal of State Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari outside State Assembly during the Winter Session, in Nagpur on Friday. (ANI Photo) (Chandrakant Paddhane)

Days before the winter session of state legislature in Nagpur, it looked like the opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) had enough ammunition to corner the Eknath Shinde-led government. The controversy over comments by Governor B S Koshyari, the tirade by Karnataka politicians over the border dispute and over investment going to Gujarat looked like to be an unending series of problems or PR disasters for the Shinde-Fadnavis government.

A day before the session began, a High Court order on Nagpur land allotment that was ordered by Shinde during his tenure as urban development minister in the MVA government as well as a ruling given by another minister Abdul Sattar (again during the MVA rule) seemed like the best opportunity for the Opposition to target Shinde.

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray had marched to Nagpur with an intention to corner Shinde. Sena leader Sanjay Raut had even announced that there would be firecrackers. A grand protest march in Mumbai on December 17 had even set the tone for the confrontation. But nothing of that sort happened.

After the initial noise, the Opposition chose to dump the contentious issues midway.

The division within the MVA and probably the skeletons in their cupboards meant the government managed to wriggle out of the situation.

This has been the subject of discussions in political circles over the past two weeks. Exactly why did the Opposition put their swords back in the scabbards? It was clear that all three parties in the MVA were not on the same page when it came to going after Shinde over the Nagpur land case. According to chatter in political circles, a top opposition politician doesn’t want to weaken Shinde at this juncture. His aides say they are expecting major power tussle between Shinde and Fadnavis soon, which would make things easier for them. Also, an aggressive stand taken by Shinde and Fadnavis, threatening to launch probes into various decisions taken by MVA government, was another factor why the Opposition attack was muffled. In response to the allegations made by the MVA over certain decisions, such as the controversial one taken by minister Sattar, it was pointed out that similar decisions taken by MVA would put them in an embarrassing position, if they are made public. The sum effect was that the threats to corner the government were not taken to their logical effect. Was this a wise move? The next few months will show.

No posting for Mundhe

Taking on politicians seems to have proven costly for IAS officer Tukaram Mundhe. After he was removed from his post in the state health department in November 2022, Mundhe has been kept waiting for his next assignment. Often hailed by citizen groups as an upright officer, Mundhe has always faced a problem dealing with politicians, especially the elected representatives. Politicians complain that he doesn’t show any respect to them. Officers who have worked with Mundhe say he prefers to go by the rules and doesn’t respond to any requests or demands by elected representatives. In his service, Mundhe has barely been kept in his post for a full tenure of three years. In his last posting as director of national rural health mission, Mundhe initiated action against health officers who were not present in public hospitals when he visited them. This apparently irked health minister Tanaji Sawant from Shinde’s BSS. Mundhe was removed from the post. The Shinde-Fadnavis government has not given him a new posting yet. Apparently, almost all of the ministers don’t want Mundhe in their departments. Not many takers for officers who strictly go by the rulebook?

Old enmity, new context

A controversy over clothes worn (or rather not worn) by actress and social media influencer Urfi Javed has become a bone of contention between two women politicians. Chitra Wagh, chief of the state BJP women’s wing, picked up cudgels against Javed seeking police action against her for wearing skimpy clothes at public places. She also wanted Rupali Chakankar, the present chairperson of women’s commission to take action against her. Wagh was head of the state NCP women’s wing before she quit and joined BJP. Chakankar took over the post after Wagh’s departure and was critical of the latter. It often led to war of words between the two. The fight is now revived over Javed’s clothes. Following Wagh’s criticism that Chakankar has not taken any action against the model, the latter told the media that wearing clothes by someone was not a concern of the commission. She also advised Wagh to focus on other issues concerning women. She has also sent a legal notice to Wagh for making misleading allegations against the commission. The slanging match between the duo has become a source of TRP for Marathi news channel. Meanwhile, an amused Javed is probably counting how many more followers she has got after the controversy.