Maharashtra: Amit Shah’s mafia chief, Modi’s ‘guru’?

Addressing party workers at the BJP state convention in Pune on 21 July, Amit Shah called Sharad Pawar “the biggest mastermind of corruption in the country”. In a voice bristling with righteous indignation, he declared “if anyone is to be blamed for institutionalising corruption, it is undoubtedly Sharad Pawar”. The venue, ironically, was a stadium that was built at Pawar’s behest.

Nationalist Congress Party (SCP) MP Supriya Sule called the home minister’s diatribe against her father and party chief “laughable”. Wasn’t it the BJP government that had awarded him the Padma Vibhushan? And while Prime Minister Narendra Modi did call Pawar a bhatakti atma (lost soul) during the Lok Sabha elections, the vehemence of Shah’s condemnation of Pawar took political circles by surprise.

It is no secret that the BJP has tried very hard to woo Pawar, going to the extent of suggesting that smaller parties and splinter groups in Maharashtra should seriously consider merging with the BJP. Pawar has shown no sign of wilting under pressure and is standing firm with the MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) and the INDIA bloc. Could this frustration be the reason for Shah’s belligerence and intemperate language?

“Once we win Maharashtra, Haryana and Jharkhand,” he shouted, “Rahul Gandhi’s arrogance would be shattered to smithereens.” The party workers, whose responses were only slightly more enthusiastic than the half-hearted clapping from the leaders on the stage, had to be theatrically urged to be louder in their affirmations.

Having harangued Sharad Pawar and Rahul Gandhi, next in the firing line was “Shrimaan Uddhav Thackeray”, whom he accused of joining the cabal that had sought clemency for Yakub Memon, one of the accused in the Mumbai blast case. Shah was obviously referring to the united NCP of which Ajit Pawar was also a part. Did he forget that the BJP has joined hands with Ajit Pawar, and made him a deputy chief minister, with the finance portfolio?

Shah is clearly under pressure to deliver the three states that have eluded the BJP, but observers wonder whether his tirade may have done more harm than good. Neither chief minister Eknath Shinde nor Ajit Pawar have shown any inclination to merge their parties with the BJP or accept it as the big brother in the Mahayuti alliance. Many NCP MLAs and, according to some reports, even Ajit Dada Pawar, are looking for ways to return to the parent party led by Sharad Pawar.

Shinde, on the other hand, is openly taking on Uddhav Thackeray in the battle to be seen as the ‘real’ Shiv Sena.

Ad campaigns and filmi strategies

Large hoardings have appeared across Maharashtra with Shinde in the foreground. An advertisement campaign has also been launched to project Shinde as the people’s chosen leader — apala nath — as part of the pre-poll blitz. In both the hoardings and the advertisements, Modi, Shah and Fadnavis have been relegated to a corner. Several advertising agencies and political strategists have already been consulted by Shinde.

Even Ajit Pawar, desperate for an image makeover, is believed to have engaged the political digital campaign management agency, DesignBoxed Innovations. The agency had earlier worked for Ashok Gehlot in Rajasthan and advised a pink colour scheme for him. It remains to be seen what colour scheme it recommends for Ajit Pawar.

Shinde is also banking on the second part of the Marathi film Dharmaveer, a biopic on Anand Dighe, the late Shiv Sena strongman from Thane. Shinde claims Dighe was his mentor and, not surprisingly, the film devotes considerable screentime to make that point.

The first part of the film was released in May 2022, just ahead of the rebellion staged by Shinde, who flew off to Guwahati with a majority of the Shiv Sena MLAs and engineered a split in the party.

Dharamveer 2 is being released in August this year, ahead of the crucial Assembly election, and is likely to be screened free of cost at every theatre in the state, besides being released on an OTT platform. The politically motivated film, alleged Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut, is disrespectful to both Dighe and Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray.

Holding court in Anand Ashram in Thane, Anand Dighe acquired a larger-than-life image and came to be known as Dharamveer. He died in hospital in 2001 following a car accident when he was just 50. While some of his followers continue to subscribe to the conspiracy theory that he was actually murdered, Narayan Rane, also a Dighe acolyte, has stoutly denied any foul play.

Rane claimed to be the last person to see Dighe alive at Singhania Hospital (which was vandalised by mobs in the wake of Dighe’s death) and said Dighe passed away seconds after Rane left his side. Earlier this month, Shinde invited Bobby Deol to the chief minister’s residence to release the official poster of the film.

Shinde, who also plays a role in Dharamveer 2, hopes the film will help him win the support of Shiv Sainiks and further consolidate his hold in Thane.

Cross-voting in council poll

The victory of all nine candidates fielded by the ruling coalition in the state in the legislative council election on 12 July continues to haunt the opposition MVA alliance. There were 12 candidates in the fray for 11 seats in the legislative council, to be elected by the MLAs. To win, a candidate had to secure 23 ‘first preference’ votes. The Shiv Sena (UBT) with 15 MLAs and NCP (SCP) with 10 MLAs were clearly short of the required numbers, while the Congress with 31 MLAs was in a position to get one of its candidates through.

The surplus votes were apparently cast in favour of Milind Narvekar of the Shiv Sena (UBT), who won. However, NCP(SCP)-supported PWP (Peasants and Workers Party of India) candidate Jayant Patil lost. Even the BJP with 103 MLAs could bag only five seats and managed to place Pankaja Munde (who lost in the Lok Sabha election) in the council. Shiv Sena (Shinde) with 38 MLAs and NCP with 42 MLAs bagged two seats each, though all three parties were also short of numbers and clearly benefitted from cross-voting from the opposition ranks.

Though the voting was through secret ballot, Congress MLAs were accused of cross-voting despite the party’s official candidate Pradnya Rajeev Satav winning. The alleged cross-voting has cast a shadow on opposition unity, and questions are being raised regarding the cohesion and coordination of the MVA.

State Congress leaders claimed that the cross-voters had been identified and the party would take strong action against them. MVA leaders, however, seem unperturbed and claim that the MLC election would have no fallout on the Assembly election in October.