By Sushil Kutty
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray appears to be still learning on the job and his teachers in school are unwilling to give him slack. Like the one setting the periodical paper for Covid-19! CM Thackeray’s performance has ranged from dithering to dismal. So much so, a frustrated Thackeray alleged a “conspiracy to malign Maharashtra” and vowed to fight the coronavirus in his state to the finish.
But the fight includes taking on the opposition BJP, and its Hindutva ideology. A ‘secular’ Shiv Sena is increasingly vulnerable to attacks from Hindutva forces and the BJP, which now considers itself the lone guardian of Hindus and Hindutva, keeps nudging and edging the MVA government, particularly the Shiv Sena component of it, on matters Hindutva, whether it was the ‘Palghar Sadhu Killings’ or the Covid-19 caused delay in the reopening of the iconic Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai, which the BJP workers are protesting all over Maharashtra, egged on by the “BJP” Governor.
Being, and remaining, Maharashtra Chief Minister is not easy. But becoming chief minister wasn’t that hard. It came as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi package deal. And, even if it came to ditching ideological pal for donkeys’ years, the BJP, it was worth the betrayal. Time had come to not only grab power in Maharashtra but also to stop playing second fiddle to the BJP despite coming second behind the BJP in the assembly elections! So what, there were others ready to pitch in with seats.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi government, wedded to secularism, started out tentatively, containing the coronavirus pandemic easily its first priority. But, like everywhere around the world, Covid-19 was not going anywhere any soon. There were times when it looked like the situation in Maharashtra was under control but the respite, if you could call it that, was temporary and the coronavirus was back on the front-burner every few days.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray took note and said in a televised address that “whatever political storms come, I will face… I will fight coronavirus too.” The fact is Maharashtra’s coronavirus numbers no longer surprise. People are resigned to their fate and take it as the new normal. The coronavirus figures as of 12 noon, October 13, 2020, were 2,12,439 active, 15,35,315 overall, 12,81,896 recovered and 40, 514 deaths.
A criticism that follows Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray is that he has been holed up in Matoshree – his family abode – ever since he became Chief Minister, unmindful of the flak coming his way, tinged with barely concealed contempt. MVA partner and NCP chief Sharad Pawar voiced dislike, and Thackeray toured certain regions of the state and scooted back to Matoshree ASAP. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar reports daily at the Mantralaya, meets people, but not Uddhav, who has not even taken a chopper ride to survey flooded parts of his state.
Uddhav Thackeray carries eight stents in his frail-looking body, fruits of an angioplasty. But at 60, preferring to work from home (WFH), which shouldn’t be frowned upon in these times of the highly contagious coronavirus, doesn’t catch the eye when people marvel at an 82-year-old Sharad Pawar going places fraught with the dangerous coronavirus.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has also spoken of other “political storms.” Great, the coronavirus is not just a pandemic but also political. In India and in the United States. In the international landscape with China using panic over the pandemic to tweak the world order. Uddhav Thackeray, if he’s aware of these global winds, is not wasting time on them. There are other irritants that keep the Maharashtra Chief Minister slaving through the night.
There’s the saying, ‘uneasy lies the head that wears a crown!’ But Uddhav Thackeray hasn’t had serious reason to worry on that score. The Bharatiya Janata Party is still smarting from the “ditching” it got from the “loyal” Shiv Sena, but the MVA glue wil not come unstuck even if the BJP moves to unseat the MVA haven’t stopped. The challenge to Thackeray from the BJP is there, just below the political fabric, and the BJP wants desperately to stitch a new set of suit for Devendra Fadnavis.
An irritant that comes with the Maharashtra Chief Minister’s job and troubles Thackeray is a hostile media. Especially those which play to the BJP tune. Thackeray’s handling of the Sushant Singh Rajput death and the brouhaha over Brihan Mumbai Corporation’s JCB action at Kangana Ranaut’s Pali Hill office complex gave the BJP reasons to raise the ruckus and certain media helped amplify it.
And discovering “druggies” in Bollywood followed by the NCB sideshow widened the canvas of attack and linking Uddhav’s son Aditya Thackeray to the Sushant Singh Rajput death made things worse for the Chief Minister. Aditya Thackeray is the Maharashtra Tourism Minister and a staunch friend off Bollywood.
A recent “secret” meeting between ex-chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut fueled speculation that the Shiv Sena wanted the BJP to back off from targeting Uddhav’s son any further. But that didn’t work as the BJP couldn’t risk alienating the hordes that have switched to the BJP’s side demanding ‘Justice for SSR’ on Social Media, with select media adding to the chorus. The political discourse has changed with “SSR,” Kangana Ranaut, Hathras and Karoli. Add to them the handling of “drugged-Bollywood” and outcry over Rhea Chakraborty and it’s a circus.
Uddhav Thackeray must by now have understood that his enemy No.1 is Devendra Fadnavis, whose twice in a row dream to be chief minister was thwarted by Thackeray. Fadnavis, it is said, is trying out all the tricks in the bag to unseat MVA and Uddhav Thackeray. Fadnavis does not like one bit what Uddhav Thackeray did to his favourite Aarey Project by scraping the Aarey Metro Car Shed and shifting it to Kanjurmarg “at no cost,” the land to be made “available at zero cost.”
Uddhav Thackeray has linked shifting the Aarey project to Kanjurmarg to the safeguard of the environment. His government has increased Aarey forest area from 600 acre to 800 acre, without the tribal population getting hit in any manner. He boasted that nowhere else would anyone find an 800-acre jungle in the middle of a city! Stating that Mumbai has a natural forest cover, Thackeray batted for biodiversity. For icing on the cake, he rescinded cases slapped against environmentalists protesting the Aarey project by the Fadnavis administration.
Uddhav Thackeray, even if immune to criticism on his reluctance to step outdoors, acted like “once bitten, twice shy” when it came to the unexpected national grid failure that blew power in all of Mumbai and its suburbs, bringing all movements to grinding standstill including the famed ‘locals.’ The Centre ordered a probe and Thackeray, while instructing officials to see to it that a recurrence does not occur, ordered his own probe which should also find out if the failure was “expected, unexpected or was caused by dereliction.”
Only the second Thackeray in the Thackeray dynasty, Uddhav Thackeray does not want to take any chances. He intends to remain Chief Minister for the remainder of his 5-year term and would take all precautions. As for his “self-quarantining,” that doesn’t stand in his way. The Thackerays and their entourage would be going soon to Bihar to campaign for 60 Shiv Sena candidates in the fray for the Bihar Assembly. (IPA Service)