Unlike the budget session, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis now faces an acid test as he prepares his strategy to face aggressive opposition during the upcoming monsoon session of the Maharashtra state legislature. The monsoon sessions have always proved to be full of political turmoil. This time it would be testing the negotiating skills of the CM, as ultimately, he has to lead the government.
Both Congress as well as the Sharad Pawar led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), riddled with their own internal tensions and political preferences, have now decided to bury the hatchet and ensure better coordination on the floor of the house to embarrass the Fadnavis government citing several burning issues.
Their main demand is going to be the immediate resignations of Pankaja Munde and Vinod Tawade, who have been facing controversies and aggressive opposition. The opposition thinks that this is the right time to corner the government and seek resignations from both the cabinet ministers. However, the Chief Minister and the BJP floor managers in Delhi do not appear to be in a hurry to oblige the opposition by accepting their demand.
The CM has yet to prove political manoeuvring capacities and appears to be depending on his inner circle of ministers for proper advice in dealing and defusing crises faced in the state. The BJP’s alliance government in the state- the Shiv Sena – is also not coming out openly to help the battered BJP. Rather it prefers to wait and watch BJP’s discomfiture over increased attacks.
Vinod Tawade, one of the major strategists BJP has in the state, is under attack and finds himself in the eye of controversy over his degree certificate. Water Supplies Minister Babanrao Lonikar is also under attack for holding fake educational degrees. Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and Co-operation and Marketing Minister Chandrakant Patil stood by Education Minister Tawde when the opposition tried to implicate him in alleged irregularities in procurement of fire-extinguishers for Zilla Parishad schools worth over 100 crore rupees. BJP does not find much substance in these allegations.
However, Pankaja Munde, daughter of Gopinath Munde, finds herself isolated and not many leaders are supporting her while the Congress and the NCP demands for her resignation due to her involvement in another rate contract purchase of her department, worth 206 crore rupees. Cabinet Minister Prakash Mehta who is close to the CM tried to defend her but there was not much force behind his defence. When Pankaja Munde addressed a press conference, she was supported by her sister Pritam Munde who represents Beed in the Parliament and Rashtriya Samaj Paksha leader Mahadev Jankar.
Leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil, claims that the Congress is serious about these charges and their demand for resignation of these two ministers. He announced that the opposition would not allow the government to run the legislature unless these two ministers are removed.
There are many other issues including continued suicides by farmers, position on land acquisition bill, the nuclear power project in Konkan region. However, due to political compulsions, the opposition has decided to harp on resignations by the ministers and then seek debate on other issues on the floor of the house to seek definite assurances by the government.
Former MPCC president and now group leader of Congress in the State Legislative Council, Manikrao Thakre assures that there will be better coordination between the Congress and the NCP. Manikrao Thakre, MPCC president Ashok Chavan, leaders of opposition in the assembly and council, Radhakrishana Vikhe Patil and Dhananjay Munde have already met informally to fine tune the future strategy to corner the government on the floor of the house. With the two parties deciding to obstruct the functioning of Maharashtra legislature during coming monsoon session, the BJP cannot take things for granted and will require better floor management to defuse the situation over demand for resignation.
By blunting the Congress attack against senior Cabinet Ministers, the trouble will not be over for the CM as he has to also manage proper support and service from its ruling alliance partner, the Shiv Sena. The Sena is also not trying to hide its frustration due to neglect of its ministers in the state cabinet and total lack of coordination between the ministers and their concerned departments. Saamna, Sena’s mouthpiece, has been expressing its opposition to many government policies and wondering why its elected representatives are being treated so lousily. The government has also not responded to the Sena’s demand that its representatives be appointed in several government committees and corporations as part of sharing of power with the BJP. However, despite setting up coordination committee of the Sena’s and BJP’s senior leaders, many issues remain unresolved.
If Sena’s demands are neglected for long, then the party may not hesitate to embarrass the BJP on the floor of the house. The BJP ministers entrusted with the job of smooth floor management have been worried about these issues and are trying to keep dialogue with the Sena leaders to avoid any further damage due to delayed response. Apart from Shiv Sena, the CM will also have to interact and resolve issues involving partners of Maha Yuti in Maharashtra. RPI leader Ramdas Athawale, Raju Shetty of SwabhimanI Shetkari Sanghatana, Mahadeo Jankar, representative of Dhangar community and Shiv Sangram leader Vinayak Mete are all waiting to see how CM allows them to share power with the BJP-Sena alliance.
With all said and done, the CM is going to face a stormy session where the opposition is well prepared to stall the proceedings of the house during the monsoon session.
