Is Cash Now The 'King' Of Maharashtra's Political Game?

As supplementary demands over the annual budget were presented in the Maharashtra assembly's winter session at Nagpur on the first day of the proceedings, indicating that the state now has a debt of over Rs 9.35 lakh crores, what became the biggest talking point across all political parties on the second day of the session was the video tweeted by former leader of opposition of the legislative council Ambadas Danve of Shiv Sena (UBT), which allegedly showed a politician handling crores of rupees. Danve did not directly name anybody but only said that a ruling party MLA was handling this cash and some investigation should be undertaken into this matter. Just about a week ago in Konkan, Shiv Sena leader Nilesh Rane shot and exposed a video of a huge amount of cash being taken and given on the eve of the city council polls in Konkan's Sindhudurg district. 

Some months ago, another video allegedly showing yet another Shiv Sena leader, Sanjay Shirsat, with a suitcase full of cash, had created ripples in Maharashtra's politics. All this leads to the question of whether cash is now the king of Maharashtra's politics.

A leader of the BJP-alliance partner, Nilesh Rane, taking cameras to a person who is known to be a BJP activist and showing the world that there was a cash amount of over Rs 25 lakhs at that place, shocked the BJP too. Leaders of the BJP did not expect Nilesh Rane, whose brother and father both are active leaders of the BJP, and brother Nitesh Rane is a cabinet minister in the Maharashtra government. But the Election Commission in Maharashtra had to rush to the spot and undertake an investigation into how so much cash was found on the eve of the nagar-parishad elections in the Sindhudurg district. Nilesh Rane then levelled an allegation that the ruling party was distributing as much as Rs 10 thousand to every voter in the polls. This came as a shock to all the stakeholders in the poll process.

On Tuesday, the regional media in Maharashtra took up the matter tweeted by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve because the video looked explosive. One person was seen handing over bundles of cash at a table to another person. The controversial nature of the visuals created headlines in the digital media instantly, with Ambadas Danve suggesting the person to be a ruling party MLA. Shiv Sena MLA Mahendra Dalvi came out with an explanation during the day that if some leaders are suggesting that it was his video, they should come out with concrete evidence. There was a buzz in social media that the person seen in the video was another Eknath Shinde group MLA, but no clarity was presented by either side. Many still remember how Eknath Shinde's close confidant and cabinet minister, Sanjay Shirsat, was seen with a huge stack of cash. The video was shot on a hidden camera just months ago. All this has shaken the confidence of the public about what exactly happened during the polls process in the recent local self-government polls. The state saw a sluggish percentage of polling in the nagar-parishad polls, and the trend that was seen was, generally, of disinterest among voters.

Another aspect of this whole drama is the question as to why and how, one after the other, only Eknath Shinde's party leaders are being seen in the videos that are coming out in media or social media and whether Nilesh Rane's exposé in Konkan was a retaliation from the Shiv Sena against the BJP. In the peak civic polls season in Maharashtra, the rampant use of cash, which is getting exposed by video sting operations, has perhaps put the state election commission on the defensive. There is no detailed clarification coming from either the state election commission or the government about why and how such large amounts are being spotted or are being recovered from politicians or their activists in various parts of Maharashtra.

The state election commission, as well as law enforcement agencies in Maharashtra, have to now take the initiative to weed out this menace of cash in the upcoming civic poll season. The stakes are high, and polling will take place for very important municipal elections in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur, and other big cities in Maharashtra. If political parties, such as the BJP, want the confidence of urban voters restored in the poll process and they want trust to be built in the citizen's mind, quick action is needed to stop the menace of cash!

Rohit Chandavarkar is a senior journalist who has worked for 31 years with various leading newspaper brands and television channels in Mumbai and Pune.