While addressing the BJP booth workers in Bhopal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accused the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) of being involved in corruption worth Rs 70,000 crore. He also urged Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers to uncover more scams and increase NCP’s “scam meter”. Since 2014, PM Modi and former CM of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis called NCP a national corrupt party; they took dig at the party during many political rallies. Modi’s attacks were driven by anxiety. Modi promised people to have a firm stand against corruption and he assured people that no corrupt politician would be spared and on the other hand all corrupt politicians joined BJP and got clean chit. By making Ajit Pawar a deputy CM of Maharashtra BJP has actually conveyed to the people that corruption is just an election gimmick but they have no objection to the corruption if they join the BJP camp.
Time and again Maharashtra’s politics has seen all-time lows. Notably, the total strength of the Maharashtra legislative assembly is 288 and a minimum of 145 is needed to win the trust vote. After Eknath Shinde and his supporters’ rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray in 2022, the new alliance between Shinde and Fadnavis increased to 164. And, with Ajit Pawar’s move, the NDA government’s seats crossed the 200-mark. And 90 per cent of the leaders are corrupt but BJP is fine with it. The politicians who were once under the continuous target of the BJP have now become free from all the charges of corruption after joining them and have received prominent posts. Be it Bengal, Assam, Maharashtra or any other states, the politicians, who were once the constant target of BJP, become stain-free by getting washed in a washing machine after joining BJP. Now no action will be taken against them.
The Lok Sabha elections of 2024 might emerge as a Hindi movie plot. There is betrayal, hate, hijack and a new sense of insecurity. On one side is the BJP, led by Narendra Modi has geared to win a third consecutive mandate to rule the country. Jawaharlal Nehru remains the only political leader in India who won three consecutive mandates. If the BJP pulls off 2024, PM Modi will become the second one. On the other side is an array of Opposition parties that are equally determined to depose the BJP in 2024 and deny PM Modi a shot at making history.
Soon after NCP President Sharad Pawar removed party working president Praful Patel and general secretary Sunil Tatkare for engaging in “anti-party” activities, the faction owing allegiance to Ajit Pawar hit back by sacking state unit president Jayant Patil and making new appointments. Patel appointed Ajit Pawar as the leader of the NCP legislature party. The tit for tat actions came a day after Ajit Pawar joined the Eknath Shinde-BJP government as deputy chief minister along with eight other NCP MLAs who were inducted as ministers.
In Maharashtra the NCP aligned with BJP and the Shinde Sena is confused because they don’t know for whom they should seek votes. As the party they belong to has already lost its credibility. For example those who love Shaead Pawar and his NCP may not vote for those NCP leaders who aligned with BJP. Similarly, those who believe in the Thackeray family and that Shiv Sena may not entertain Shinde Sena. One need to look at Ajit Pawar’s and trusted aides like Praful Patel and Chagan Bhujbal’s “betrayal” of and Nationalist Congress Party founder Sharad Pawar. Soon after Ajit Pawar took oath as Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra and joined the Eknath Shinde led government, critics accused the BJP of once again behaving like a washing machine.
People may think of action by investigative agencies like the Enforcement Directorate, it seemed that Ajit Pawar and other “rebels” had little choice but to join hands with the BJP. But in reality BJP needed Ajit Pawar in its camp to strengthen and improve its chances of winning in 2024 and keeping Shinde in check. In Maharashtra, the BJP and now estranged Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) won 41 out of the 48 seats and ensured the victory of an independent candidate. Let’s see how these new equations are going to work for BJP. Will people accept BJP’s diluted stand against corruption?
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