@RavikiranRKD
While a virtual lockdown, under the garb of restrictions is underway, the state is agog with the startling revelations in the ongoing Antilia explosives probe involving API Sachin Waze, the Bombay High Court decision for a preliminary inquiry by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the allegations made by ex-Mumbai CP ( Commissioner of Police) Param Bir Singh and the political mud-slinging between the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the availability of vaccine doses. All these issues are bound to reach their logical end one day but are certain to leave a very bad taste in public memory.
The ruling and the opposition sides are playing the game of one-upmanship. The MVA government is looking at the issue of the supply of vaccine doses as an opportunity to put the BJP on the mat by taking advantage of the sensitivity attached with it. On the other side, BJP is keen to take political advantage by cornering the MVA in a bid to project it as bad governance. Above all, the game of politics is in full swing unmindful of the public concerns.
In the meantime, with the state government’s decision to initiate departmental inquiry against former Mumbai CP Param Bir Singh, a circle appears as complete. Such a probe, according to the civil services rules, has been necessary if the state is looking for face-saving measures. Because, in future, a question would certainly be asked over the state government response to very serious and damning allegations against the home minister by one of its senior-most officers. And, the silence on the part of the state government could have been assumed as a meek acceptance of the allegations.
A state government officer however a senior or junior is duty-bound to follow service rules and cannot approach the court of law or media bypassing his superiors. In this case, Param Bir Singh did not seek a formal nod to approach the Supreme Court (SC) and the High Court (HC). Had the departmental probe not been ordered, the court could certainly have questioned it. The inquiry is also mandatory if the MVA government wants to take stringent action, such as suspension, against the senior police officer.
One thing should not go unnoticed during the period of an unprecedented hullabaloo, and that is, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray have not met officially or unofficially to assess the political situation. Though Pawar was hospitalized for a few days, he has now been discharged and a bunch of politicians such as Sanjay Raut, Udayanraje Bhosale have paid visits to his residence.
Even though two of his family members are currently in isolation, CM is seen chairing various official meetings. Even when the highly controversial letter by Param Bir Singh became public, Pawar was in Delhi and returned to Mumbai thereafter. But nobody has heard of a meeting between the two most important personalities.
The ground-breaking ceremony of much talked about late Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray Memorial took place in the absence of NCP chief Sharad Pawar who was close to late Thackeray. It could have been delayed by a few days as Pawar was hospitalized on the said day.
Now, when the MVA leaders are taking pot-shots at the Narendra Modi-led government alleging a short supply of vaccine doses, Pawar took a different line and said the Centre had assured him help on the supply issue. He spoke with Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan who assured him of the help. His words came in when MVA leaders were targeting the Centre.
There cannot be two opinions about Pawar’s expertise in crisis handling, a quality nobody in the present government could match. But it appears there is a political void as the CM has avoided talking on the Wazegate after saying Waze was not Osama Bin Laden, on the concluding day of the budget session of the state legislature. His son, environment minister Aaditya Thackeray too has shunned public appearances and isolated himself citing Covid 19 infection.
In the midst of this, a letter by Waze added some more anxious moments to the turmoil wherein he added more to the Rs 100 crore issue. His letter has a mention of money demanded by Transport minister Anil Parab, a known right-hand man of CM Thackeray.
Even on this issue, no word has come from Thackeray’s. Some may say the name-calling by Waze could have been under duress but the sources of the collection as mentioned are indeed worth pondering as they pertain to the tendering system in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which is always known as controversial, collection from Gutkha manufacturers and reinstatement and posting of Waze himself.
Interestingly, no word has come from the developer firm engaged in the redevelopment of Bhendi Bazar and the area near Crawford Market.
Coming back to the availability of the vaccine doses, the blame game between the MVA government and the BJP has baffled innocent people who are not interested in politics. When the ruling alliance says the short supply was a deliberate and politically intended move, BJP, on the other hand, says it was a ploy to divert public attention from the Wazegate and related issues. Even the worst enemies come together in the hour of crisis, but here the politics have gained upper hand.
The BJP, it seems, is bent on taking advantage of the situation, assuming it as the best time for paying back what it was made to, post assembly elections 2019. But there is a huge difference when one compares political management. When MVA, taking all of its senior and junior leaders together runs a narrative- BJP as an anti-Maharashtra party, the BJP doesn’t appear as a united force under the leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis. For instance, the statements by Union ministers such as Ravi Shankar Prasad and Prakash Javadekar came rather late, lacking the force. Even the state leaders speak rather lately and lacked ferocity.
Certainly, the disintegration is all-pervasive. Instead, the energy could be better utilized for helping people in dire need of beds in hospitals, availability of Remdesivir, plights of the working-class during the lockdown, and other issues close to people.
