Poll games & gains in Maharashtra

SUPRIYA Sule, working president of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP, Sharad Pawar faction), has accused the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra of using unfair means in the ongoing local body elections. Led by the BJP, the Mahayuti includes the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena and the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP. Sule has alleged that the BJP and its allies are exerting pressure on Opposition candidates through the police and other means. As a result, many of these candidates have withdrawn from the contest, allowing Mahayuti nominees to win unopposed.

Sule has appealed to the state Election Commissioner to ensure that the elections are held in a free and fair manner. She has also flagged large-scale distribution of money during the polls.

Making opponents withdraw from the contest through monetary or other inducements has been an old practice in Maharashtra. Leading political families with vast landholdings (despite the land ceiling laws) have always taken pride in their ability to wield unbridled power. Rumours and reports of pressure tactics have multiplied in the past decade. Monetary inducement used to be the most common currency of surrender; now, candidates are intimidated with threats that law enforcement agencies will be unleashed on them if they don’t relent.

Over the years, the use of the police machinery to soften up political opponents has been honed to perfection. Roping in the police to win elections was virtually unknown in the decades after Independence. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s dictum that the police should never involve themselves in the tussle between political parties was strictly observed. But just when it was expected that those who had installed Patel’s tallest statue on the banks of the Sabarmati would be true to his teachings, the police leadership finds itself adrift on the same count.

There is a feeling among the members of the police fraternity that those who connive with the rulers and help them in their quest to remain in power indefinitely will prosper and thrive. Such wicked thoughts did occupy scheming minds earlier also and stray instances were talked about, but the proliferation of such “anti-Patel” tendencies was fortunately checked by the fear of exposure. When, how and why fear has been shown the door should be a matter of research and study.

A time will come when such a study will be ordered, as was done after the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi was lifted. Patel’s principles, enunciated in his speeches in the Constituent Assembly, where he strongly supported the establishment of an apolitical Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service, can be easily accessed. Our current rulers, who swear by Patel’s principles, should read his speeches and put them into practice. That would be the greatest tribute they can pay to that great man.

Powerful Maratha families have always dominated Maharashtra’s politics. It is not a new phenomenon that Sule has described in her letter to the State Election Commissioner when she alleged that as many as a hundred nominees have withdrawn their candidature under pressure. The figure may be exaggerated, but there are quite a few cases that can be cited. Many of those who could exert undue pressure were aligned to her father’s party, the original NCP. They have shifted their allegiance to Ajit Pawar’s breakaway faction of the NCP or the BJP.

The BJP’s rise in the state’s political arena has been phenomenal. Its committed grassroots workers trained by the RSS, its organisational strength, its hunger to win every election it fights – all add up to ultimate success. I remember my journey by car from Bombay (now Mumbai) to Kolhapur in July 1955 to take charge of Gadhinglaj, my first subdivisional posting, after the completion of my training. All along the road that passed through the Maratha strongholds of Sangli and Satara, I saw numerous houses burnt down and lying unrepaired. The houses belonged to Brahmins who were targeted after Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.

Things have changed over the years. The BJP, which had followers confined to the upper castes at the turn of the century, is now the leading player in Maharashtra politics. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is a Brahmin, a very capable one at that. Unfortunately, the methods adopted by him to attain power are not kosher. The BJP leadership has engineered splits in leading regional parties, the Shiv Sena and the NCP, and governs today with the help of these splinter groups.

It is rumoured that the Shiv Sena (Shinde) is in danger of losing 30 of its MLAs to the BJP, which they believe is a safer bet for their political careers. Poaching legislators from the Opposition is fairly common, but doing it from the ranks of coalition partners is unheard of.

The BJP and Shinde’s Shiv Sena have given tickets to five or six members of the same family to fight the local body elections. The father, mother, sons, daughters or daughters-in-law have been favoured and attempts are being made to get such candidates elected unopposed. This amounts to taking the concept of ‘Opposition-free’ governance to a ridiculous extreme. And while doing so, another concept, that of dynasty-free governance, is also being given short shrift.

The intelligentsia in Mumbai has now realised that what our popular Prime Minister says day in and day out is to be taken with large pinches of salt. But the PM can afford to ignore those who can mould public opinion. Most of those who come out to vote, particularly in the local body elections, are not bothered about lofty concepts. Their interest lies in freebies and other personal benefits.

A lot of money changes hands during parliamentary, Assembly or municipal elections. Even panchayat polls are not exempt. The economically weaker sections look forward to these elections to tide them over a month or two of malnourishment. The current local body elections in Maharashtra have evoked greater interest and excitement than experienced before. Adding to the drama, the State Election Commission (SEC) has postponed voting in 24 of the 288 local bodies, forcing even the CM to protest!

Another interesting feature of these elections is the friction between the Shiv Sena (Shinde) and the BJP. Flying squads of the SEC have raided offices and houses of some Sena leaders, much to the chagrin of the BJP’s principal ally in the state.