NCP(SP) releases book on "black deeds" of Mahayuti govt in Maharashtra

The Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) on Friday, 19 July sounded the bugle for assembly polls in Maharashtra with the release of a book on ‘Kale Karname’ (black deeds) of the ruling Mahayuti government.

Releasing the book, the party’s state president Jayant Patil called it a “trouble engine, not triple engine” sarkar.

The ruling alliance in the state comprises the BJP, Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the NCP headed by Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

Instead of the Ladki Bahin scheme, which promises a monthly dole of Rs 1,500 to underprivileged women, Patil said a ‘Ladki Khurchi Yojana’ should be launched to “meet the demands of all those aspiring to be the CM”.

In its book on the ‘black deeds’ of the Mahayuti government, the NCP (SP) highlighted 10 “failures” of the ruling coalition while launching a scathing attack on “misgovernance” and “corruption” in the state.

Patil released the book alongside Shirur MP Amol Kolhe, the party’s manifesto committee chairperson and former Rajya Sabha member Vandana Chavan, and Sunil Gavhane, their student wing president, at the party’s office at Ballard Estate in south Mumbai.

“This is not a triple engine sarkar, this is a trouble engine sarkar,” said Jayant Patil, quipping that a ‘Ladki Khurchi’ should be launched in the state.

The Sharad Pawar-founded NCP was split last year after Ajit Pawar broke away with MLAs loyal to him and joined the government. He later got the party name and its clock symbol.

Targeting CM Shinde, Patil said, “The chief minister goes to Davos and then talks about Rs 4 lakh crore of investment, but these are mere claims. How much of that investment has come into Maharashtra? How many jobs have been created?”

The book, which features a black balloon with three crows perched on it, was referred to by Amol Kolhe as a “reinvention of Gandhi ji’s teen bandar (three monkeys)” in Maharashtra.

While the original monkeys were centred around “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil”, the crows in Maharashtra represent a new ideology of “not seeing, not hearing, and not talking” about any positive work in the state, he said.

Besides the book launch, NCP (SP) leaders also launched a campaign to “crowdsource” suggestions for their manifesto for the upcoming state polls.

The ‘My Dream Maharashtra’ campaign will run from July 19 to August 15 and collect suggestions from ordinary citizens across the state that NCP (SP) has promised to consider after the Maha Vikas Aghadi comes to power, he said.

NCP (SP) is a part of the opposition bloc MVA that also has Congress and Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) as partners.

“The people of Maharashtra are self-respecting. They have always stood up against oppression. This time, too, they will reject those showing ‘gulabi swapna’ (rosy dreams) and we will remove the dark stain that has tarnished Maharashtra’s image for the last two years,” said Kolhe.

The manifesto campaign will have three competitions, two digital ones involving reels and posters and one physical in all districts asking the youth how they think the state should be rebuilt, said Sunil Gavhane.

The NCP (SP) is the first party to start its manifesto campaign in the state and is taking an “innovative crowdsourcing approach to attract voters, especially the youth, to its political platform”, Patil said.

After winning 8 out of the 10 seats it contested in the Lok Sabha polls, the NCP (SP) has emerged as the outfit with the highest strike rate in the state and has begun preparations to replicate this success in the assembly elections, he said.

The party has already launched a state-wide tour called ‘Nishtavan Samvad Daura’ (Loyal Outreach Tour), he said

Similar tours are expected to be launched by other senior leaders, including Sharad Pawar and the party’s working president Supriya Sule in the coming weeks, Kolhe said.

Of the 288 assembly seats in the state, the undivided NCP had won 54 in the 2019 state poll.