To win the Coronavirus war, Uddhav needs to take everyone along. Coalition partners and the BJP, too, must realise that this is not the time to play toppling games

A political slugfest is going on in the big State of Maharashtra even as the Uddhav Thackeray-led coalition Government is trying to face the outbreak of the pandemic. While the BJP is yet to reconcile with the ascendency of the Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray, it is becoming aggressive and is aspiring for power.  State BJP leaders are demanding the imposition of President’s Rule in Maharashtra, claiming that the Chief Minister has failed to check the pandemic. According to insiders, the BJP is not willing to stake claim at this point of time. It only wants to get rid of the Uddhav Government and rule the State through the Centre. 

In the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) enjoys the support of 170 legislators, including 56 members from the Shiv Sena, 54 from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), 44 from the Congress and some smaller parties. The BJP has 105 seats and claims the support of 13 other legislators. The boat can be rocked any time by encouraging defection.

Though Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray took over in November last year, he is yet to settle down because of various reasons. The first is the nature of the coalition, which he is currently heading. It was an unnatural one as there is nothing common between his party, the Shiv Sena, and the partners, Congress and the NCP.  It was an opportunistic coalition and the main reason for their coming together was to prevent the BJP from coming to power in the State.

The second and more important reason is the inexperience of the Chief Minister in public administration. Maharashtra is a big State and Mumbai is the financial capital of the country. Hence, it needs a capable man at the helm. But before he could come to grips with the responsibility thrust upon him and learn the ropes of the job, Uddhav’s image took a beating due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

His inexperience was seen in the way he handled the migrant crisis.  He is still learning the tough task of governance. He did not chalk out a proper Covid-19 strategy, with the result that today Maharashtra reports the highest number of Covid-19 cases and the tally is still growing. Uddhav even faced a crisis regarding his election to the legislature and he managed to get elected only after his SOS to Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month. It is not clear why he did not take the help of experienced State Congress leaders or the NCP chief Sharad Pawar in tackling the pandemic.

Third, Uddhav is facing trouble not only from outside but also from within the coalition. For instance, the Congress keeps demanding its pound of flesh at every step. This is clear from the comments made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at a media conference recently. The Gandhi scion remarked that though the Congress was part of the MVA  and holds key Ministries,  “I would like to make a differentiation here. We are supporting the Government in Maharashtra but we are not the key decision-maker in Maharashtra. We are the key decision-maker in Punjab; we are the key decision-maker in Chhattisgarh, in Rajasthan, in Puducherry. So, there is a difference between running a Government and supporting a Government.”

Local party leaders complain that Uddhav has not been consulting them. According to them, during the formation of the Uddhav Government, the Congress got plum portfolios, considering its strength in the State Assembly. It was also decided that the Legislative Council seats and corporations would be distributed equally among the three parties of the MVA Government. However, things are not going as per  the discussions. Fourth, the role of the NCP chief, who was instrumental in the formation of the Uddhav Government, is intriguing. Eyebrows were raised at his recent meeting amid political instability in the State with Governor BS Hoshyari, the first since the the latter took charge.

Pawar’s meeting is interesting as it came in the wake of the demand from the State BJP leaders for imposition of President’s Rule in Maharashtra. This demand has been made by key leaders, including former Chief Ministers Narayan Rane and Devendra Fadnavis, both of whom met the Governor last week. Interestingly, both the Raj Bhavan and the Pawar camp described it as a courtesy call. Pawar is considered to be one of the ablest Chief Ministers and shrewdest political minds in the country. But there is barely any evidence of Uddhav consulting his coalition partners and his Cabinet colleagues on a regular basis. It is the babus who are said to be running the show in the State currently. 

Therefore, it is not surprising that Uddhav has not been allowed to settle down either by his coalition partners or the main Opposition, the BJP. Though Uddhav managed to keep the Sena afloat after the death of its founder Bal Thackeray all these years, running a Government is different and this is where he needs to strengthen himself.  He needs good advisors. Other players, too, should realise that this is not the time for playing toppling games. The first priority should be to tackle the outbreak.  Politics can wait. After all, people elect them as their representatives and they cannot fail to serve public interests. 

(The writer is a senior journalist)