Shinde stole the show but…

As the Manoj Jarange Patil-led Maratha march ended following some promises by the government, it was an Eknath Shinde show all the way. While chief minister Shinde’s aides and some officials negotiated with the activist and worked out a middle ground to end his march to Mumbai, his two deputy chief ministers, Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar, were nowhere to be seen. In fact, both of them were out of town. It is not known whether they chose to stay out of the process or were not consulted by the CM. When Shinde went to meet Jarange-Patil at Vashi, he was accompanied by two BJP ministers, Girish Mahajan (who was involved in negotiations with the activist earlier) and guardian minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha. There was no minister from Ajit Pawar-led NCP which is the third partner in the ruling alliance. A senior BJP minister said some of his colleagues from both his party and Ajit Pawar faction were not in favour of accepting the demand which makes it easier for relatives of a person with a Kunbi caste certificate to obtain one. It would set a bad precedent, they felt. However, they were told that Shinde’s decision would be final.
Significantly, none of the Maratha ministers from BJP who have been dealing with the Maratha reservation issue—Chandrakant Patil and Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil—were involved in the process. Shinde’s cabinet colleagues who are unsure of the decision also point out that any fallout too would be the responsibility of the CM now. Union minister and senior BJP leader Narayan Rane who headed the Congress-NCP government’s panel on Maratha reservation when it was given for the first time in 2014, expressed his opposition to the decision taken by the state government.
On the other hand, Shinde’s party colleagues insist that he has played a calculated gamble which created an impression of victory for the Maratha activist. He needed to buy time till the ongoing survey of Marathas is over and state makes a fresh bid for Maratha quota, which he has managed to do, they say.
Father Ajit unhappy
With his father Ajit Pawar breaking away from Sharad Pawar and heading his own faction of the party, son Parth is shouldering the responsibility of handling affairs of the party, especially in Pune district. However, his recent visit kicked up a controversy as pictures of him with a criminal Gajanan Marne went viral on social media. Marne faced some serious criminal charges including a murder and was lodged in Yerwada prison. Following the criticism, Ajitdada on Friday expressed unhappiness over the meeting. Parth should not have met Marne, said the deputy chief minister in an apparent bid to control the damage.
Ambedkar’s outburst
Last week, when the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) meeting was being held on Thursday and it became clear that Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) chief Prakash Ambedkar had not been invited, a letter was hurriedly sent to him. Recently, the INDIA alliance decided to include the VBA in the opposition coalition. An irked Ambedkar did not hold back. He shot off a letter to state Congress chief Nana Patole curtly asking him whether he had the authority to invite a party for seat-sharing talks. He also said he would respond only if Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi or state Congress in charge Ramesh Chennithala write to him. Chennithala then stepped in to pacify Ambedkar conveying that he has authorised top three of Maharashtra Congress—Patole, Ashok Chavan and Balasaheb Thorat– to discuss any issues with the VBA chief. MVA leader are now expecting him to join their next meeting on seat-sharing talks scheduled on January 30.
Rashmi to step in?
In the party’s conclave at Nashik recently, senior Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Bhaskar Jadhav made a forceful appeal for Rashmi, wife of party chief Uddhav Thackeray, to step out and campaign for the party. Jadhav went on to appreciate Rashmi for the role she has played so far. Though she does not hold any position in the party, Rashmi has informally been a part of Uddhav Thackeray’s core team. She is consulted on all major decisions of the party. However, she always chose to remain behind the scenes when it came to party affairs. Now with the party facing a battle for existence and it is in need of leaders, Rashmi is likely to step in. She is said to be supervising the party’s women outreach programme, Stree Shakti Samvad Yatra. Will she be seen addressing rallies and seeking votes? Thackeray faction leaders are expecting that “Rashmiwahini” would be seen more in action as the election approaches.