Munde chapter not over, Maha scene may change
Yoga guru Baba Ramdev waves to his followers after addressing the media in New Delhi on Sunday.
Political equations in Maharashtra are likely to change with the main Opposition BJP-Shiv Sena combine failing to emerge as an alternate to the Congress-NCP for more than 10 years. On the other hand, the Congress’ next objective is to come to power on its own.
The main Opposition BJP-Shiv Sena is not in a position to grow and get mileage of the anti-incumbency factor against the Congress-led front. While the Shiv Sena got weakened after the formation of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and Narayan Rane’s revolt against Uddhav Thackeray, BJP chief Nitin Gadkari’s camp is trying to corner heavyweight Gopi-nath Munde with the RSS support. The rank and file in the Opposition is comfortable with the ruling Congress-led coalition. While some are closer to the Congress ministers, others are known for their proximity to the NCP ministers. This is not only the talk in political circles of Maharashra but was seen during the state Assembly polls in 2009. The Congress-NCP had even allied with the Shiv Sena, BJP to share power in the local bodies after the elections.
Earlier, Maharashtra was known for its Opposition stalwarts like Sripad Amrut Dange, S.M. Joshi, Uddhavrao Patil, Mrunal Gore. But the deterioration in the leadership is clearly seen. After sensing the change, the Congress started working on expanding its support base. If insiders are to be believed, the Congress’ main objective is to bring OBCs back to the party. Mr Munde belongs to the vanzara community. The community was with the Congress and had moved to the BJP only after the death of Vasantrao Naik and Sudhakarrao Naik who had ruled the state as chief ministers for long.
According to the Congress, the fight between Mr Gadkari and Mr Munde is not over yet. “And it will not be over so long as Gadkari remains president of the BJP and RSS backs him,” they said and predicted that this would compel Mr Munde to take a drastic step. Though no single party in Maharashtra — Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena or BJP — is in a position to get an absolute majority on its own, the coming local body elections could be an indicator of a possible new realignment in the state. This will also be a political test for chief minister Prithviraj Chavan. It will be interesting to see whether he will be able to revive the Congress in his home region of western Maharashtra dominated by the NCP in these elections.
While the NCP’s formation has virtually ended the Congress rule in the state, the split in the Shiv Sena weakened its political constituency. And the BJP has never been a main player in the state despite the RSS’ backing.
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