The mess in Maharashtra has infused fresh life into the BJP. The party, which is having a golden run since 2014, has hardly had to do much, except enjoy the show from the sidelines and make noise being the Opposition, each time a new crisis erupts. Considering how out-of-depth the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government has seemed, the party can happily tell the voters, not just in Maharashtra but wherever it is out of power, how only a BJP government can ensure sushasan or good governance, and vikas. The MVA government has given the BJP the perfect Opposition recipe as home minister Anil Deshmukh faces corruption allegations by no less than the former Mumbai top cop Param Bir Singh.
The Thackeray-led government has wobbled its way through ever since coming to power in November 2019, stumbling from one embarrassing crisis to another and exposing the chief minister and his team’s administrative inexperience, governance immaturity and an unforgivable degree of incompetence. The BJP, meanwhile, which was pipped to the throne by the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress, in what has been referred to as an ‘unholy’ alliance, cannot be more thrilled.
Even sweeter than getting the numbers and forming the government is the vicarious pleasure of seeing your ally-turned-rival, who managed to keep you away from power, make constant gaffes and seem unworthy of the throne. Because that is when you can convincingly tell the voters that it is you, and only you, who deserves to be voted in. For Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, not used to having power being snatched away, Uddhav’s missteps — from constant tussles with the Centre, ally troubles, embarrassment around the Sushant Singh Rajput case, resignation of cabinet minister Sanjay Rathod, the very stark and dismal handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the latest Mukesh Ambani house bomb scare-Sachin Waze-Param Bir Singh episode — have been like unexpected (or maybe, expected) treats to relish.
The allegations against Deshmukh may or may not be correct, and questions around the timing and motive of Singh’s letter may remain unanswered, but there is little denying that the MVA government is in a soup.
The ‘maha’ disaster
It took a lot for Uddhav Thackeray to become the chief minister. The Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance is both an ideologically and politically compromised one. But it, perhaps, was the only way the Thackeray scion could have managed to occupy the top post in Maharashtra.
Bagging the post, however, was only the beginning of what has turned out to be an arduous battle for Uddhav. He has made obvious his staggering degree of inexperience and lack of control over matters, which has led to much embarrassment for his government.
Take for instance, the absolute mismanagement on the Covid front. Maharashtra was among the biggest concerns in the first wave of the pandemic, with Mumbai emerging as a hotspot. At one point, so lacking was the management of the pandemic that patients were ending up losing crucial hours running between hospitals for ICU beds. In the second wave, Maharashtra once again emerged as a hotbed. As things stand today, the state accounts for 63 per cent of active Covid cases in India, a whopping figure by any measure. On the vaccination front, the Centre had to pull up the state for slow pace of vaccination and “unused” vaccines.
If Uddhav’s government has so far seemed clueless and overwhelmed on the Covid front, it has also wasted a significant amount of time on bickering with the Centre over some key infrastructure projects. His government has also been left red-faced by its own ministers — first from Forest Minister Sanjay Rathod whose name surfaced in connection with a TikTok star’s death and now Home Minister Anil Deshmukh.
On the law and order front, the MVA government has looked even worse. From the handling of the actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s case, to what seemed like a witch hunt against TV journalist Arnab Goswami to the string of cases against certain BJP loyalists for criticising the CM and the government to the Antilia bomb scare episode — a lot has blown up in the face of this government.
Unfortunately, for Uddhav Thackeray, his inexperience in heading a government is jarring, and this, despite having a veteran like Sharad Pawar on his side to learn from and consult.
As my colleague in Mumbai, Manasi Phadke, says, “a lot of the problem lies in the fact that while Uddhav has the administrative experience of heading a political party, he is used to a certain autocracy in decision making, which does not work in an alliance where three parties are jostling for space”. She also points out how the BJP’s machinery is keenly watching every gaffe of the MVA government and swooping in with a large panel of talking heads, launching a coordinated attack with the backing of its IT cell.
For Uddhav Thackeray, all has not been well on the allies’ front either, with differences being aired publicly and Congress-NCP even questioning the CM’s ‘unilateral‘ functioning.
Also read: RSS’ new team has a message for the BJP
Why Maharashtra’s story is crucial
For the BJP, the Sena government’s unflattering graph on the governance front is an important story to make an example of.
The party, under Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, almost seemed unbeatable, and was fairly confident of winning Maharashtra again. However, it ended up with just 105 MLAs in the 2019 assembly polls, way short of the halfway mark of 144 in the 288-member House. This dented the party’s image badly for a variety of reasons.
One, it showed the limitations of the Modi-Shah duo, especially given how Maharashtra is not a new territory for the party, like Assam or Tripura — it is a state where its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), is headquartered. Two, with Sena jumping ship to the rival camp, it made the BJP look like an untouchable even to someone seen as a natural ally, and made its rivals look more attractive. And three, most importantly, it raised serious questions about former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis — BJP’s young, progressive and gen-next face. For the BJP, the record was looking bad. All its sitting CMs — from Rajasthan to Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra — were failing to deliver comprehensive wins, with Manohar Lal Khattar just about scraping through in Haryana.
One of Modi’s most important sales pitches is to show himself and the BJP as being in full control, both at the Centre and in states where the party is in power. With Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar’s joint might floundering, Narendra Modi’s message to the voter gets even more amplified. This is sweet revenge for the BJP, and one that it is bound to exploit to the hilt.
Views are personal.
Edited by Anurag Chaubey
Subscribe to our channels on YouTube & Telegram
Why news media is in crisis & How you can fix it
India needs free, fair, non-hyphenated and questioning journalism even more as it faces multiple crises.
But the news media is in a crisis of its own. There have been brutal layoffs and pay-cuts. The best of journalism is shrinking, yielding to crude prime-time spectacle.
ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Sustaining journalism of this quality needs smart and thinking people like you to pay for it. Whether you live in India or overseas, you can do it here.