Congress struggles to regain its lost identity

@RavikiranRKD

Mumbai: Fifteen months after assuming power in Maharashtra as a partner of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government, Congress is making all-out efforts to consolidate its position as the party in the reckoning. In short, one can describe it as Congress before December 2020 and thereafter, recalling a letter written by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and its decision to change the state unit chief. 

Sonia Gandhi was quite optimistic when she wished CM Thackeray a successful tenure in a letter written on November 28, 2019. The people of Maharashtra expect the alliance to provide cohesive, purposeful, responsible, responsive, and transparent administration and our collective effort will undoubtedly be to ensure that these expectations are fulfilled, was all that she had said. 

As if things did not move in the expected direction, Sonia Gandhi wrote to CM on December 14 last year asking to initiate steps for the betterment of Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). She reminded him of the Common Minimum Programme (CMP) of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government vis-à-vis welfare programme related to Dalit’s and Adivasis. 

Sonia Gandhi said that the budget allocation for the development of these communities needs to be proportionate to their share in the population. She even batted for a legislative backing to utilize the funds allocated during the same financial year, referring to how previous Congress governments have done in Karnataka and undivided Andhra Pradesh. 

Before all the issues raised by Sonia Gandhi were resolved, Congress decided to effect the change of guard by replacing MPCC chief Balasaheb Thorat with Nana Patole. His appointment comes at a time when the state is getting into election mode as elections to civic bodies including crucial Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Thane, Pune, and Nagpur are just round the corner. 

The Congress has put both Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on the mat and gave a clear signal to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that it wanted to consolidate its position in Vidarbha- the region where BJP has a sizable presence. 

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Patole’s appointment seemed to have taken Shiv Sena and NCP off guard as both of them reacted cautiously. NCP supremo Sharad Pawar even said the post of the Speaker in the state assembly has now become vacant (and open for deliberations to finalize the next incumbent). 

It clearly shows things have not been as smooth as appearing and NCP is concerned over the Congress nominee. The party wants someone more amenable and not someone like Prithviraj Chavan who gave jittery moments while he was heading the coalition government between 2010 to 2014. 

Patole, on the other hand, started on a stormy note by making some bold statements such as one like he intends to make Congress number one in the state politics. He is eyeing for BMC elections to consolidate the party’s position and it will offer some anxious moments to Shiv Sena whose interest in the cash-rich civic body is an open secret.

But, Patole’s love for making tall claims and statements may land him in big trouble as is seen when he said Congress would stop shootings of megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar for their selective approach while posting tweets over the rise in petrol prices during Congress regime and now. 

The AICC spokesman in Delhi had to do some damage control by saying the statement by Patole should be taken in its moral intent and the party was not against any kind of artistic freedom.

People who have observed Patole’s style of working closely are worried over his love for making sensational statements and penchant for media attention. During his tenure as the Speaker of the state assembly, he chaired several meetings and gave directions to state officials, much to the surprise of ministers. His recent statement over making the available option of ballot papers along with EVMs for the upcoming elections to local bodies baffled his party colleagues. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar objected saying the issue would be decided by the state cabinet. 

Apart from this, Patole being an Other Backword Class (OBC) from Vidarbha is set to give some anxious moments to BJP who is the main rival of the Congress in this region. BJP saw its seat share dwindle from 42 to 29 out of the 62 seats from the region in the 2019 elections to the State Assembly. Congress camp is now in an upbeat mood with a historic win in State Council polls held recently for the Nagpur Graduates constituency. In both the elections it is widely claimed that the OBCs ditched BJP preferring Congress. 

In any case, it will be interesting to watch how Congress moves along in the coming days, particularly because of no response by the CM to some of the demands raised by Sonia Gandhi. Congress members of the state cabinet were unhappy over the non-supportive attitude of the Shiv Sena and NCP on the issues such as concessions to power consumers and doling out cash and kind benefits to tribal community members. 

Surprisingly, the tribal development department headed by Congress minister KC Padvi is vying for scrapping the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme which is a Congress initiative. The DBT was launched under Dr Manmohan Singh-led UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government in 2013 with much fanfare. It was aimed at transparency and eliminating pilferages from the distribution of funds for the welfare of the downtrodden. While the beneficiaries received the money on time, the usage of Aadhar linked benefits exposed ghost beneficiaries saving government funds worth crores. 

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government that came to power in 2014 relaunched it and the BJP government in Maharashtra implemented it in 2018 covering beneficiaries of Tribal and Social Justice Departments. The students from residential schools were getting money transferred into their bank accounts for the purchase of books, school uniforms, food items, etc. 

In this view, the Congress stand can invite criticism when its party chief asked the CM to take measures for the upliftment of poor sections of society. But it is now said that a strong lobby of contractors and suppliers is hard pressing for doing away with DBT.