While reservation seems to be the buzzword in the current political scenario, and reservation for women in Assemblies and Parliament was the biggest debate last fortnight all over the country, it is interesting to see how some of Maharashtra's women political leaders are fighting what seem to be lonely battles on their home turf. One could perhaps call these women leaders Maharashtra's “political daughters”. As the debate over women’s reservation in Parliament and Assemblies continues, it is interesting to see how these political daughters are fighting their own battles.
Last week Pankaja Munde, a prominent BJP leader and former cabinet minister, came out to speak to the media about her current status in the BJP and what her future plans are. It is very obvious that Pankaja Munde is facing a battle within her own party, as well as a battle to survive in the political space in her constituency in Marathwada. It is rare for Pankaja to speak out on record and on camera about the discomfort she has been facing in her own political bastion. In the 2019 assembly polls, her cousin Dhananjay Munde won the polls against her in her constituency Parli in the Beed district of Marathwada region. Dhananjay Munde fought as a Nationalist Congress Party candidate. Losing the home turf to her own cousin, who also claims the legacy of Pankaja's father Gopinath Munde, was a major political setback for Pankaja. However, she has taken up the challenge and has been fighting a long battle to regain lost ground for over four years now.
What is interesting is the information from many insiders in Pankaja's camp, who are closely working with her; they say that the BJP does not seem to be too interested in supporting Pankaja in winning back her lost turf. Now that Dhananjay has joined the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP and has become a cabinet minister, it is obvious that the BJP will openly provide all the support to him in the coming polls in Parli constituency. However, those close to Pankaja claim that even before Dhananjay Munde crossed over to the ruling side along with Ajit Pawar, he enjoyed tacit support from the BJP state leadership. Supporters in the Pankaja camp say that they could see how the BJP leadership was not too active in ensuring that they won Parli in the 2019 polls.
Some weeks ago, Pankaja Munde launched a long procession campaign named “Shiv Parikrama Yatra”. The target was to meet and mobilise as many supporters as possible in certain pockets of the region and connect with voters. Pankaja's supporters claim her campaign received huge response, but as it came to a close, Pankaja's sugar mill was sent notices by government agencies. Her supporters now ask how and why a BJP leader can be subjected to such action while the party is in power in Maharashtra as well as the Centre, and aver that this kind of action clearly shows that the party wants to curtail Pankaja's political activities and is not really supportive of her. Speaking to a Marathi media channel, Pankaj did not directly make any allegations against the party leadership, though she indicated that there were many problems that she faced and had decided some time ago to even take a long break from politics. It is very clear that a prominent woman leader who has kept a high profile in the politics of Marathwada is now fighting a lonely battle for her political survival.
Pankaja is not alone. In the politically active Western Maharashtra region, Lok Sabha MP Supriya Sule is another woman leader who is fighting a tough battle. In the 2019 elections, Supriya's margin of winning was lesser than the previous polls, she won a decisive victory in Baramati, her home turf. Supriya's father Sharad Pawar and cousin Ajit Pawar have both ensured, election after election, that she wins with a big margin from Baramati in the Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP has been eyeing Baramati Lok Sabha constituency for a long time now and former BJP state president Chandrakant Dada Patil had put a lot of focus on how to win it in the past. Now with the Ajit Pawar division of the NCP going with the BJP, it is going to be a tough task for Supriya to retain her seat. Supriya has been very vocal in Parliament and has won the best MP award on several occasions for asking the maximum number of questions in the House. She has been very active in the constituency, too, and is very accessible to all the voters and party workers. However, the aggressive tactics of the BJP's election machine combined with the NCP split is going to pose some big challenges for her. In that, Supriya too faces perhaps a lonely and tough battle ahead in her constituency.
Back in the state capital Mumbai, Congress leader and former Lok Sabha MP Priya Dutt now faces new challenges. Priya Dutt's father, legendary actor and Congress politician Sunil Dutt, was extremely popular in the Mumbai North Central constituency. Priya rose in the party after she participated actively in her father's peace march from Mumbai to Amritsar in 1987. Priya was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 2004 polls and then again won from Mumbai North Central in 2009. Priya lost the election in 2014 as well as in 2019. Now as alliances from both sides prepare their candidate lists, sources in the Uddhav Thackeray camp suggest that they are going to insist on the Mumbai North Central seat. It may be difficult for the Congress party to refuse this demand from Uddhav's Shiv Sena, and that will perhaps create some challenges in Priya's political career.
In Solapur district of southern Maharashtra, former Union minister Sushilkumar Shinde's daughter Praniti Shinde is a three-time MLA from Solapur city central constituency. She is active in the constituency and would perhaps be given a ticket again. Praniti Shinde has been the working president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee and seems to be carrying the party's weight on her shoulders in the region as the party's senior state or central leadership is not seen focusing too much on Solapur district the way they focus on some districts in Vidarbha or Marathwada region. In that sense Praniti too is fighting a lonely battle against her political rivals.
So as the discussion about women's reservation in Lok Sabha and in various assemblies is now in focus at the national level, some of the most high-profile women leaders in a large and advanced state like Maharashtra seem to be either ignored or sidelined by their top leadership. These women have dominated the political scene in their constituencies and public space for the most part of the last decade, but are now seen fighting lonely battles and perhaps face uncertain an political future.
(Rohit Chandavarkar is a senior journalist who has worked for 31 years with various leading newspaper brands and television channels in Mumbai and Pune.)
