Local bodies and Marathi compulsions or is Fadnavis trying to “cut down to size” his deputy Eknath Shinde
The Thursday meeting between friends-turned-foes Uddhav Thackeray and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has generated a lot of speculation and buzz in the corridors of Maharashtra politics.
The given reason was that it was about the post of the Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly. However, coming a day after Fadnavis’’s “join us” comment, which Uddhav Thackeray dismissed as a “joke” it created a whole lot of buzz.
The 20-minute meeting was in the ante-chamber of Vidhan Parishad Chairman Ram Shinde at Vidhan Bhavan. According to reports, Uddhav demanded that the Speaker should allow the post of the Leader of Opposition, for which the name of Bhaskar Jadhav was recommended in the last session. Jadhav has the consensus of the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi but Speaker Rahul Narvekar has not taken any decision in this regard.
Fadnavis angle
MNS supremo Raj Thackeray and estranged cousin Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena UBT) recently reunited after 20 years at a public rally in Worli, Mumbai, for an event called ‘Awaj Marathicha’—the Voice of the Marathi. Politics is all about optics, in those terms the rally was a success.
There are various theories over who scripted the reunion, of which one is that CM Fadnavis arranged it to “cut down to size Shinde”. Leaders from the ruling Mahayuti and opposition Congress-NCP(SP) also pointed to closed-door meetings between Fadnavis and Raj to buttress that claim.
Then on Wednesday, Fadnavis’s offer to Uddhav at an official ceremony, inviting him to join the ruling side was another incident that added fuel to the fire. The remark came during the farewell ceremony of Ambadas Danve, the Leader of Opposition and a member of Thackeray’s faction of the Shiv Sena.
“Look Uddhav-ji, there is no scope of (our) going there (in the opposition) till 2029 But if you want to come over here, then consider it…it depends on you it can be considered,” he said amid peals of laughter from his side
“Let it go. Some things should be taken on a lighter note,” said Uddhav when reporters asked his comments on Fadnavis’s offer. Adding to the already growing buzz is a video of Fadnavis and Thackeray greeting each other cordially ahead of the session, with both leaders shaking hands and exchanging smiles.
Cutting Shinde to size
The ruling NDA comprises the BJP and two breakaway factions—Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena, and Ajit Pawar’s NCP—who walked away with the name and symbols of their respective parties after bringing down the Uddhav-led Maha Vikas Agahadi government
Ahead of the BMC elections, Marathi language has become a big issue, so much so that Maharashtra transport minister Pratap Sarnaik had to criticise his own government over the denial of permission for a Marathi rally on Mira Road and joined the protest. It is another matter that Sarnaik was forcefully driven away by the agitated Thackeray loyalists, calling him a “traitor”.
The event was jointly organised by Shiv Sena (UBT) and MNS to mark the withdrawal of government resolutions related to the three-language policy in primary schools—an issue that is said to be giving jitters to the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena-NCP Mahayuti as also Uddhav’s supporter Congress.
Language an emotive issue
Language is often a strong marker of identity and any perceived threat can trigger strong emotional responses, thereby making it a great political tool
After Tamil and Kannada, Marathi is at the centre-stage, one of the reasons is the upcoming local bodies elections
