Tag: NCP

Baba Siddique Killed After Being Shot At

Two people out of the three who were allegedly involved in killing the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) MLA have been apprehended, sources have claimed.

Mumbai: Baba Siddique, a former Maharashtra minister and a member of the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), was shot at in Mumbai’s Bandra on Saturday (October 12) evening. He was rushed to the Lilawati Hospital, where he was declared dead.

Siddique, a three-time MLA from Bandra (West), was at the office of his son Zeeshan, an MLA from Bandra (East), where he was shot at.

He was hit by three bullets from close range, sources in the NCP told The Wire.

Two people out of the three who were allegedly involved in the killing have been apprehended, sources have claimed.

Just a week ago, another leader of the NCP’s Ajit Pawar faction, Sachin Kurmi, was stabbed to death in Byculla, Mumbai.

Siddique, who spent close to five decades with the Congress, was one of the close associates of late actor and Congress leader Sunil Dutt. After Dutt’s passing, Siddique continued to work closely with the former’s daughter Priya Dutt, a former Congress MP.

In February, however, Siddique quit the Congress. His son was later expelled from the Congress in August.

At the time of quitting the Congress, Siddique had written on his social media: “I joined the Indian National Congress party as a young teenager and it has been a significant journey lasting 48 years. Today I resign from the primary membership of the Indian National Congress Party with immediate effect. There’s a lot I would have liked to express but as they say some things are better left unsaid. I thank everyone who has been a part of this journey.”

Many in the Congress had connected his decision to quit the party to the pending cases against him.

Between 2017 and 2018, the Enforcement Directorate had accused him and his firm of laundering money worth Rs 500 crore. It carried out raids on many of his properties.

Reacting to Siddique’s killing, former Maharashtra home minister and currently an MLA from the Sharad Pawar NCP faction, Anil Deshmukh said the incident was “very shocking and raises serious questions about law and order in the state”.

“If the ruling leaders are not safe in Maharashtra, think what will be the condition of common people,” he said on X.

The Great Maharashtra Showdown: A Tough Tussle Over Three Ts

Tolerance of the people has also become a key matter. The politics of engineering splits has not gone down well in the state, which had hardly known the ‘Aayaram Gayaram’ phenomenon.

Maharashtra is witnessing a tussle over three Ts — Thackeray, treachery and tolerance, making it the premier state’s most exciting election this century.

This election marks the first time in the past decade that the dominance of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is at stake, following the emergence of Narendra Modi on the national scene.

The legacy of Bal Thackeray is getting traction in the polls as well as the issue of treason in the wake of the BJP engineering splits in two key regional parties, an unprecedented development in the state, founded in 1960.

Tolerance of the people has also become a key matter. The politics of engineering splits has not gone down well in the state, which had hardly known the ‘Aayaram Gayaram’ phenomenon.

What has made the tussle further complex is that an unprecedented socio-economic-political cocktail is witnessed in the wealthiest state. The agitation and fears among the OBCs over the Maratha reservation have led to much turmoil. Despite being the dominant community, the Marathas feel they have suffered for a long time. Meanwhile, the backward classes apprehend that their share of the quota will be affected if the Marathas are given a quota.

It would be a catastrophe if social groups felt that their tolerance had been tested for too long. The issue of agrarian distress is getting accentuated with the state witnessing the largest number of suicides by farmers. The most urbanised state has all the problems of civic neglect amid growing industrialisation.

Courtesy, Prime Minister Modi and home minister Amit Shah, mild-mannered Maharashtra was forced to witness so much drama on the political stage in the past few years.  People are still shocked and dazed over the high-pitched Opposition claims and propaganda “pacchas ke khoke, ekdam ok (50 crores, everything is ok)”.

The Ladki Bahin scheme and other such programmes at the 11th hour show the desperation of the ruling alliance which complains of being a victim of a false narrative in the recent polls. The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) could be coming up with a match through its manifesto. No one is going to leave anything to chance while luring voters. The moral of the story is that the health of the economy is the last on the agenda of the rival alliances.

Whatever truth or otherwise, the belief among people is growing that those who claim to represent them as their ‘loyal servants’ have amassed much. This could lead to unpredictable consequences in the polls scheduled in October-November.

Also read: Modi’s Headache: A Buyoant Opposition has Put BJP on the Backfoot

Those in the ruling dispensation believe that whatever anger the people had against the BJP and its allies is over with the Lok Sabha elections where their tally has dropped from 41 in 2019 to a mere 17 this time. BJP leaders like Devendra Fadnavis insist that the gap in votes between the Maha Yuti and the MVA is just 25 lakhs and this could be overcome with micromanagement.

An Opposition MP, re-elected for the third time, claimed that the scale and magnitude of money power in this election surpassed anything he had seen before, suggesting that the use of ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ card (currency notes) will be widespread in the assembly polls due to the high stakes involved.

The health or otherwise of the rival alliances will be known once the seat allocation is finalised amid claims and counterclaims. The MVA had stolen the march in the Lok Sabha polls by an almost smooth exercise.

All is not well in the ruling Maha Yuti. The politics of Modi-Shah have created bad blood among those at the helm of the three prominent constituents worrying over being upstaged by the other in some way, post polls.

No one knows who is being projected as the chief ministerial candidate for the Maha Yuti, but Fadnavis has made it known time and again that the BJP is the elder brother. Finally, Fadnavis has been given the power by the BJP to decide on the seat-sharing and candidates — a stabilising development for the party.

It is equally true that there is a twinkle in the eye of chief minister Eknath Shinde after his Sena (Shinde) had a better strike rate than the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls. Though Ajit Pawar and his Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) are facing an existential crisis, he considers himself the senior leader in the alliance. He is doing everything possible to put up a good show.

The picture is not different in the opposition MVA. Uddhav Thackeray feels that he is the natural choice as the chief minister candidate. State Congress president Nana Patole is also an ambitious man and his party has scored the best with 13 seats in the Lok Sabha, indicating that its mass base is still intact.

Sharad Pawar has sought to keep the rival ambitions capped by proclaiming that the Aghadi is the chief ministerial candidate. The octogenarian leader has been known as the wily fox in the politics of Maharashtra for a long time, respected and feared by his supporters and detractors alike.

Thackeray is taking pains to obliquely project that he is the rightful claimant as he was not only toppled as the chief minister but attempts were also made to “steal” his whole party, which is unprecedented.

Non-projection of a leader could help the Aghadi partners to do their best goes the argument.

The election this time is different because aspirants, old and new, are much more and therefore there are bound to be more rebels. It could be as if there is no tomorrow. Some former MLAs who have lost in the last one or two elections have made it known that they would be contesting this time even if they fail to get tickets from their present parties.

It could also be the election that would witness the highest number of young and fresh faces being fielded by various parties despite the dominance of the old guard. Already there are predictions that it could witness a record  ‘massacre’ of the old timers in ticket distribution to accommodate fresh faces.

With the charisma of Modi declining, polls in Maharashtra along with Haryana, Jharkhand and later Delhi would show which way the wind is blowing.

Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari are New Delhi-based journalists.

Maharashtra: MVA to Fight Assembly Polls Together; Sharad Pawar Thanks Modi For Helping ‘MVA Win’

Thackeray and Sharad Pawar said that the return of those who left the party is “out of the question”. The joint press conference of all the MVA party leaders served as a message that the coalition remains strong and will face the upcoming elections together.

Mumbai: Following their remarkable success in the general election, the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — a coalition comprising the Congress, the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, and the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) — announced in a press conference that they would contest the assembly election together. The state election, scheduled for later this year, will be crucial for both the MVA and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies: Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty

The MVA collectively won 30 out of the 48 parliamentary seats in the state. The BJP, along with its allies, known as the Mahayuti, was reduced to a mere 17 seats. In 2019, the BJP alone had won 23 seats out of the 25 it had contested. While the Mahayuti has openly expressed discontent and internal conflicts, there have also been reports of disputes among the MVA parties.

The joint press conference of all the MVA party leaders on Saturday (June 15) served as a message that the coalition remains strong and will face the upcoming elections together. Senior Congress leader and former chief minister Prithviraj Chavan said that although the three parties fought together and won 30 seats, it would not have been possible without the smaller parties and independent social organisations that worked with the people of the state to ensure that the MVA put up a good show.

Along with thanking the voters of Maharashtra who chose the MVA over the BJP, the leaders also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “I am happy that the public woke up in the Lok Sabha polls and the ‘Modi Sarkar’ has now been changed to ‘NDA Sarkar’,” Thackeray said. He further added, “In the coming months, assembly elections will be held in several states, and I believe that the situation of the country will improve even further.”

Also read: Maharashtra: Was the Mahayuti Debacle Devendra Fadnavis’s Failure Alone?

“Wherever the prime minister’s roadshow and rally took place, we won. That is why I consider it my duty to thank the prime minister. We thank PM Narendra Modi for making the political atmosphere conducive for the MVA,” said Sharad Pawar. Since the general elections were announced, the prime minister visited as many as 18 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra this time.

The BJP has accused the Congress and other Opposition parties of “peddling lies” against them and causing them to lose many seats in the election. Responding to this, Thackeray said, “Then what was the narrative used by Modi? What about the Mangalsutra narrative? What about the ‘taking away cows’ narrative? Was it right?” Thackeray thanked independent YouTubers and journalists for “debunking the BJP’s claims from time to time.”

After the Mahayuti’s poor show in the state, there have been talks about the possibility of many MLAs from both the Shinde and Ajit Pawar factions wanting to return to their parent parties. To this, both Thackeray and Sharad Pawar said that the return of those who left the party is “out of the question”.

Read all of The Wire’s reporting on and analysis of the 2024 election results here.

In-Fighting Takes Centre-Stage in Maharashtra’s Political Landscape

Within both big alliances – the Mahayuti and the Mahavikas Aghadi – discontent is not just simmering but being openly expressed.

Mumbai: There is never a dull moment in Maharashtra politics. After the general election results, soon began the blame games, discontent and infighting.

After the disastrous political show in the election, all three parties in the Mahayuti – the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena – have begun pointing fingers at each other. The conversations on the Mahavikas Aghadi front – comprising Uddhav Thackeray’s Shiv Sena, Sharad Pawar’s NCP and the Congress – are not looking very positive either.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty

The Ajit-led NCP turned down the BJP’s offer to accommodate party leader Praful Patel as a minister of state (MoS) with independent charge in the new National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government. Patel, speaking to the media, said he has been a Union minister in the past and taking a state MoS charge is a “demotion” of sorts for a leader as senior as him. This is not the first time that the NCP has spoken up against the BJP since the election results. In fact, Ajit skipped the first meeting of the NDA allies that happened in Delhi a day after the results were announced on June 4.

Of the four seats that the party contested, Ajit’s NCP could secure only one. On the other hand, the Sharad Pawar-led faction put up a strong fight, winning eight out of the ten seats the party had contested. Responding to the poor show of his party, Ajit blamed the BJP for not working enough for his party candidates, especially his wife Sunetra Pawar, who contested from Baramati against Supriya Sule and lost by over 1.5 lakh votes. Evaluating the results, Ajit also claimed that the party’s electoral base shook because of some BJP leaders’ claims that the Constitution would be altered once the party comes to power.

On the 25th foundation year celebration of the NCP, the Sharad front had organised a celebratory event in Ahmednagar, one of the party’s strongholds. At the event, Rohit Pawar, an elected MLA from the NCP (SP) and Sharad’s grandnephew, openly took a swipe at the state party chief Jayant Patil. The NCP (SP) put up a solid show in the general election, winning eight out of the ten seats that the party had contested. Soon after the results, as part of the jubilation, many posters were propped up referring to Patil as the “general” who led the party to victory.

Rohit, in a speech he called a “frank” sharing of his views, said no “general” led to the party’s victory and that it was the party workers who should be hailed for the results. Rohit also focused on senior Pawar’s age and said it is his efforts and leadership that kept the party going. Within the party, the brewing discontent between Rohit and Patil is well known, and it is claimed that the former has been seeking a prominent position in the party. At the same event, Patil responded, saying that if anyone has any grievances against him, they should directly speak to Sharad or come to him.

The Eknath Shinde-led Sena too has expressed their displeasure over the BJP’s decision to offer its MP only an MoS role. “We were expecting a Cabinet berth,” the party’s chief whip, Shrirang Barne, said. Barne referred to other NDA allies and the cabinet berths offered to them even when they had fewer MPs elected in this parliamentary election. Shinde’s Sena has seven MPs out of the 15 seats it contested. Barne claimed the party did better than the BJP in the state, considering the latter contested in 28 seats and won only nine.

The Sena later tried to play down Barne’s claim by issuing a statement that read: “We have already made it clear that we are supporting the government unconditionally. This nation has asked for and needs the leadership of Prime Minister Modi ji. There’s no bargaining or negotiation for power. We have extended unconditional support to an ideological coalition.”

Differences are reported to have erupted even between the Congress party and Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena, which has otherwise worked harmoniously since the inception of the Mahavikas Aghadi in 2020. In the upcoming state legislative council’s graduate and teacher constituency elections, the Congress had hoped to contest two seats (Konkan and Nashik), and expected Sena to contest the other two. But Thackeray announced that his party would contest all four, and according to Patole, the decision was taken without consulting the Congress. “We tried to contact Uddhav Thackeray, but he was abroad and couldn’t be reached. We tried to connect at Matoshree, but we were not able to connect as well,” Patole claimed.

The ‘Battle of Plassey’ in Maharashtra: Is BJP’s ‘Project Demolition Pawar’ Likely to Succeed?

The assembly polls due by October-November would be a fight fiercer than that of the Lok Sabha which would signal whether Maharashtra would go the Gujarat way or start a new anti-BJP game.

Make no mistake. What has been witnessed in Baramati is a miniature version of the Battle of Plassey in the 18th century that changed the course of history in India and saw the arrival of the British Raj.

In 21st-century India, there are no British and Britain is now being ruled by a leader of Indian origin.

So what is significant about the Battle for Baramati — the pocket borough of Sharad Pawar in the Pune district of Maharashtra — is that it could be likened a bit to the skirmish between the forces of Siraj-Ud-Daula, who was the the last independent Nawab of Bengal and became a victim of the conspiracies hatched by prominent individuals of his court, and the British.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty

As the outcome of Plassey changed the course of India so will the outcome of Baramati. It will change the complexion of politics in the premier state. Baramati is just a symbol but a larger fight for the control of Maharashtra is underway through it.

Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) plan is straight and simple. By driving a wedge in the Pawar clan by ensuring Ajit’s revolt, the saffron party has created a ‘Mir Jafar’ in Baramati. Notably, June 4 will reveal whether Pawar will become ‘Siraj-Ud-Duala’ — the octogenarian leader has fought hard with his back to the wall.

On the face of it, the constituency which had witnessed polling some two weeks back was virtually a straight fight between incumbent Supriya Sule of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) led by Sharad Pawar and Sunetra Pawar, wife of deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, leading the rival and more dominant faction of the party.

But behind it is an open bid by the BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah to demolish the bastion of octogenarian Pawar who fought the first Assembly poll there way back some six decades back.

Also read: Why Maharashtra Signals a Decline of the Modi-Shah Brand of Politics

Baramati is in a way the gateway to the sugar-rich western Maharashtra which has remained the political powerhouse since the heyday of the Congress. Sharad Pawar left the party in 1999 on the issue of Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin. The real issue was that Sharad Pawar was feeling marginalised in the Congress despite leading the state to secure 38 out of the 45 seats in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections.

Much water has flown down the Krishana-Godavari since then.

Senior Maharashtra minister Chandrakant Patil, the state BJP chief, had made it plain at a press conference sometime back in Baramati itself that the BJP wanted to marginalise Sharad Pawar in his backyard.

‘Project Demolition Sharad Pawar’

The plan to bring down Pawar has been a work in progress for the past 40-odd years almost before the birth of the BJP from the erstwhile Jan Sangh or the Janata Party days. Incidentally, erstwhile Jan Sangh leaders had their first experience in power in the state along with the Janata party leaders in Sharad Pawar’s progressive democratic government in the late 70s.

The BJP believed and rightly so, that any forward movement in Maharashtra is possible and permanent only if it dealt effectively with the shrewd Maratha strongman who has the will and the guile to make things his way.

Sharad Pawar is known as one of the most hard working leaders in independent India whose networking skills are tremendous, may it be business or the media. There will be very few leaders in Maharashtra who personally know about the possible candidate of each major party in each of the 288 Assembly constituency.

The untimely death of senior BJP leaders Pramod Mahajan and Gopinath Munde in the past decade and the sidelining of Nitin Gadkari by Modi-Shah in state politics was a setback to the plan to contain Sharad Pawar.

Whatever might be the strength enjoyed by Sharad Pawar and his party in the past 25 years since he parted ways with the Congress, he remained a towering personality in the state politics around whom the politics revolved. Like a juggler, he had the knack of ensuring right moves at right times that would dumbfound his detractors. When BJP secured 122 seats in the 2014 Assembly polls, Sharad Pawar suddenly announced unconditional support to the BJP government, throwing its ally Shiv Sena off balance. In Sharad Pawar’s one stroke, Sena lost its bargaining power. It also brought him in the good books of the BJP at the Centre.

Since his Gujarat days, Modi knew the utility and importance of Sharad Pawar, who in turn, used to his advantage as leader of the sugar cooperatives, which are the lifeline of Western Maharashtra.

Deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis also suggested that weakening Sharad Pawar was a conscious decision of the BJP in order to grow in Maharashtra. What he left unsaid was that whatever might be the electoral strength of Sharad Pawar and his party, he was like a ‘banyan tree’ who would not allow anything else to grow under its shadow.

It was but natural that the BJP would be in full force in Baramati this time and the only assignment for Ajit Pawar was to demolish his uncle’s stronghold once for all. It was said that Ajit was not much visible in campaigning after Baramati.

During his campaign in Maharashtra, Prime Minister Modi obliquely referred to Sharad Pawar as ‘bhatakati atma (wandering soul)’ reflected the intent and the helplessness of the BJP. Incidentally, Modi had said in Baramati long time back that he has learnt the ropes of politics by clutching to the finger of Pawar, a remark with which the NCP veteran is not comfortable.

Over the years, the BJP has attempted to soften/marginalise Pawar in various ways. During the Vajpayee regime, Sharad Pawar was made the head of the National Disaster Management Committee (NDMC), a cabinet minister level post. This accommodation was to keep Congress off balance in Maharashtra and ensure implicit support to it at the Centre.

The BJP played both the tricks in furthering its cause in Maharashtra. Mahajan was a friend and admirer of Sharad Pawar while Munde, his brother-in-law was a sharp critic of the Maratha strongman who left no opportunity to target Sharad Pawar in every possible way.

The BJP also brought into practice the principle of ‘slow and steady wins the race’. At a time, when it was unfashionable to take on Sharad Pawar, the BJP had its nominee from Baramati. The message was one of perseverance among heavy odds. There used to be one Pratibha Lokhande as the BJP candidate for some time.

The problem for the BJP was that Sharad Pawar was a jugular. He started sharing power with the Congress party within months of partying ways with it, insisting that the issue of foreign origin has no relevance at the state level. Sharad Pawar has been a Congresman who will not give away any opportunity of gaining power.

Ajit Pawar (L) and Sharad Pawar. Photos: Official X accounts.

What is seen in Baramati now is the final assault by the BJP from a man inside. Time will decide whether Ajit Pawar was a “Quisling” to the Pawar cause or was the “Trojan horse”.

Whatever might be the result from Baramati, one thing is clear that politics in Maharashtra has started changing. The BJP has failed to stabilise in the state despite leapfrogging from the number four position to number one with the emergence of Modi on the national scene in May 2014. Now the BJP itself looks under pressure despite trying all the tricks to come up on top in the premier state.

The Assembly polls due by October-November would be a fight fiercer than that of the Lok Sabha which would signal whether Maharashtra would go the Gujarat way or start a new anti-BJP game. The octogenarian has still a fight left in him whatever might be the Baramati outcome. The BJP has not bargained for a wounded Sharad Pawar in its mission to demolish him. Understandably, the battlefield in Maharashtra will not see any respite soon.

Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari are New Delhi-based journalists.

Decoding The Focus of BJP, Congress, NCP, CPI(M), Trinamool and Shiv Sena Through Their Manifestos

A recent double-blinded evaluation of major political party manifestos that articulate their agenda if voted into power by the Informed Voter Project reveals that the Trinamool, Congress party, CPI(M) and NCP manifestos belong to a significantly higher caliber in terms of the solutions to social-economic concerns and the intricacy and comprehensiveness of their vision to translate intent into action.

This article was originally published on Mumbaivotes.com.

The bulk of the word ‘manifesto’ consists of a word that means evident, present, even undeniable. It is most likely taken from the Latin word, ‘manifestus’, which Trevor Timpson interprets as “clear, public or notorious” . This is entirely befitting of the manifestos of the myriad Indian political parties that contest national elections today — perhaps the latter two words more so than the former.

While a manifesto is certainly not the only determinant of a political party’s worth and validity to rule over any nation, especially a vast, diverse and complex one like India, it is, as the definitions suggest, the most obvious public position that voters can seek out to understand the thought process and priorities of an aspiring government. It is the most accepted baseline against which to judge a party’s performance if they are voted to power.

At the Informed Voter Project, a public charitable initiative committed to ensuring transparent and non-partisan analysis of election issues in service of Indian voters, especially those that live in big cities and may be cut-off from political party discourses, we examined the 2024 manifestos of six major political parties in the fray for seats in the national Parliament.

Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty

A set of seven vetted readers scored each of the six manifestos on six hierarchical counts in descending order starting with the most important criterion, which is diagnostic rigour, or the analytical strength and historical relevance of the problem and promise described, followed by the scope of the promise (geographies, beneficiaries etc), implementation plan, commitment demonstrated through the above and through linguistic choices, and evidence of clear timelines and budgets. The manifestos were anonymised by a separate team to allow each reader to focus only on the textual claims and not be swayed by their prior knowledge and opinions of different parties to the extent possible.

The parties in the mix are Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)), Indian National Congress (INC), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Shiv Sena and Trinamool Congress. This is what we found:

When it came to agriculture and farmer welfare, it was the promises laid down by the Trinamool Congress that came up trumps. This manifesto had clear references to the shortcomings of the current government (“agriculture’s share in the union budget almost being halved from 4.4% to 2.5% over the past 4 years”) as well as specific solutions to some prevalent issues in this sector.

For example, doubling investment in agricultural research and development from 0.5% of the existing agricultural GDP to at least 1%, composing a market-diversified yet farmer-friendly import-export policy that reviews the ban on wheat, rice and sugar exports,and immediately withdrawing the many cases registered against farmers during the protests in the capital. On the other hand, the manifesto of the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Bal Thackeray) scored low on all six hierarchical counts from diagnostic rigour to clear timelines when it came to farmer issues.

Some of the other sectors in which the manifesto of the Trinamool Congress scored impressively related to health, labour and employment, and law and justice. While the INC as well as the BJP also clocked high scores on issues related to health, INC edged out BJP by scoring in the 88th percentile compared to BJP’s 71st percentile. Trinamool for example states that it intends to increase health expenditure to 6% of GDP, while CPI(M) claims to increase it to 5% followed by the INC promising to commit 4% of total expenditure. The BJP manifesto makes no mention of healthcare expenditure in these terms. Instead, it focuses more on achieving a non-specific increase in medical facilities and seats, along with a similarly general increase in access to generic medicines and other healthcare services. Compared to its own manifesto in 2019, the BJP manifesto for 2024 shies away from committing concrete numbers for many of its promises.

Unemployment and livelihood challenges have been one of the primary concerns across various communities of citizens this election cycle. Trinamool Congress, CPI(M) and BJP were the top performing manifestos in that order with a common acknowledgement of social security schemes for unorganised workers, including gig workers and migrant workers. However, there were some important differences such as a clear emphasis on filling up 10 to 25 lakhs of government job vacancies and providing employment guarantees in the Trinamool and CPI(M) manifestos, while the BJP focused more on supporting the ‘start-up’ ecosystem. The manifesto of the INC and NCP also talk about filling “30 lakh” government vacancies. Incidentally, the INC manifesto promises to institute a “Right to Apprenticeship Act” for a year for all diploma holders under the age of 25.

The BJP manifesto scored poorly in the area of law and justice, being rated consistently low across major counts, while the INC fared better, securing the second highest score after Trinamool. The INC manifesto has dedicated sections explaining the legal entitlements and protections owed to various citizen groups that they recognize as SC/ST and OBCs, religious and linguistic minorities, persons with disabilities and LGBTQIA+. It also emphasises the need to ensure press freedom through the Press Council of India Act, and supports the withdrawal of acts tilted towards government censorship such as the Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023 and Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. While freedom of expression is also mentioned clearly by NCP, there are no specific instances provided, which reduced its scope, and diagnostic rigour.

On gender issues, especially those related to women, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) scored high, coming in third after Trinamool and CPI(M) manifestos by “endeavouring” to achieve 50% reservations for women in government jobs and fast tracking women’s reservations in Parliament. This is echoed by the INC manifesto as well, which additionally promises 33% reservations for women in Lok Sabha elections like Trinamool and CPI(M).

There is a lot more to unpack in every party manifesto. Reading a party’s manifesto for oneself is highly recommended to get a personal sense of the nuances conveyed through linguistic choices and the overall impetus given to issues through prefacing and detailing. It is the beginning, if not the end, of any political party’s performance, and informed voting should ideally include due consideration of party manifestos.

CBI Closes Corruption Case Involving Praful Patel as ‘Mahayuti’ Readies for Polls

Patel quit the Sharad Pawar-led NCP in July 2023 to join the breakaway faction led by Ajit Pawar, currently Maharashtra deputy chief minister. In February this year, the Ajit Pawar faction sent Patel to the Rajya Sabha for six years.

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has closed a corruption case involving Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) leader Praful Patel registered in May 2017.

The CBI, acting on the orders of the Supreme Court, had registered a case against Patel and several officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Air India over allegations of irregularities in the leasing aircraft for Air India.

After investigating the case for around seven years, the CBI has now closed the investigation, giving a clean chit to Praful Patel and the then officials of MoCA and Air India, sources said. The closure report has been filed before the competent court in March 2024.

The NCP split on July 2, 2023, after Ajit Pawar parted company with party leader Sharad Pawar and joined hands with the BJP. Praful Patel was part of the Ajit Pawar faction.

Three days later, on July 5, 2023, Patel, who had been appointed NCP working president by Sharad Pawar a month earlier, mocked the opposition’s efforts to take on the BJP.  “I went to the joint opposition meeting in Patna with Pawar Saheb [in June 2023] and I felt like laughing when I saw the scene there. There were 17 Opposition parties there, seven of them have only 1 MP in the Lok Sabha and one party has no MP at all,” Patel, a former civil aviation minister in the Congress-led UPA government, was reported as having said mockingly.

On February 15,2024  the Pawar faction said it would field Patel for the Rajya Sabha elections.

In 2017, the CBI had alleged Patel abused his position as minister of civil aviation in the Manmohan Sngh government to lease a large number of aircraft for Air India – then a state-owned company – in conspiracy with officials of MoCA, Air India and private parties

It further alleged that the aircraft were leased even when an aircraft acquisition programme was going on for Air India.

National Aviation Corporation of India Ltd (NACIL), a public sector undertaking, was formed after the merger of Air India and Indian Airlines.

The CBI in its May 2017 FIR had alleged, “leasing of aircraft for Air India was done by the public servants of MoCA and NACIL despite the airlines running with very low load because of large scale aircraft acquisition and several flights, especially overseas flights running almost empty at huge loss.”

During investigation it was further revealed that the “lease agreements were adopted for acquiring aircraft on lease which did not have an early termination clause, so NACIL was unable to terminate the lease agreements since doing so would have resulted in NACIL paying all costs and lease rental differentials.”

Even the Parliamentary Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture in its report dated January 21, 2010 and Committee on Public Undertakings in its report dated March 12, 2010 had come down heavily on MoCA for continued leasing and renewal of lease agreements of aircraft even after the new aircraft were delivered to Air India.

Shockingly, the investigation also had revealed “15 expensive aircraft were leased for Air India for which they did not even had pilots ready, which resulted in huge loss to the company”.

CBI’s FIR had also alleged “Air India with a view to benefit private parties dry leased four Boeing 777s for a period of five years in 2006, whereas Air India was to get the delivery of its own aircraft from July 2007 onwards. As a result, five Boeing 777s and five Boeing 737s were kept idle on ground at an estimated loss of 840 crore between 2007-09”.

 

 

Mumbai Police Submits Closure Report In Cheating Case Against Ajit Pawar Citing “Mistake of Facts”

A series of coincidences, of opposition leaders having central agencies chasing them and then when they defect to the BJP, the pursuit appears to stop.

Mumbai: After accusing Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar of cheating and criminal breach of trust in the alleged Rs 25,000 crore scam at the Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank (MSCB), the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police has now claimed that a criminal case was filed “due to mistake of facts”.

On Friday, March 1, the EOW filed a ‘C summary’ report before the special court in Mumbai. A ‘C summary’ report is filed when the investigating agency is of the opinion that a person is wrongly implicated in a case due to mistake of facts.

The report is then to be accepted by the court before the case is closed against the person. The report was filed through special public prosecutor Raja Thackery. Special judge R.N. Rokade of Mumbai sessions court has adjourned the matter until March 15.

The court will take the final call on whether to accept the closure report or to direct the police to conduct further investigation and subsequently file a chargesheet in the matter.

The police’s move is not surprising. There has been a pattern in both the state and central agencies’ conduct in cases involving leaders, more specifically of those from the opposition who have jumped ships to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) or form an alliance.

This is not the first time that the EOW has filed a closure report in the matter. In 2020, when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) — a tri-party government comprising of the Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress — was in power, the EOW had first filed a closure report. Pawar was a deputy chief minister even then. The closure report was against Pawar and 70 others named in the case.

However, when the MVA government collapsed in the state and BJP and Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena took over, the EOW had suddenly shown interest in “reinvestigating” the matter. In October 2022, the EOW had said that it would want to further probe the matter.

Also read: As 2024 Elections Near, ED Accelerates Actions Against Opposition Leaders

Within months, Pawar had joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government in the state. He became the second deputy chief minister in July 2023, with Devendra Fadnavis already holding that post. For this, Pawar had parted ways with his uncle and founder of the NCP party Sharad Pawar.

Along with Ajit Pawar, several other MLAs left. Recently, the election commission granted him the party name and symbol, forcing Sharad Pawar to rename his party as NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar.

The Wire had published a detailed  report  on the opposition leaders who crossed over to the BJP and suddenly all allegations against them were either dropped or the state machinery had lost interest in investigating the matter any further.

In Maharashtra alone some eight leaders have either left the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, or Sharad Pawar-led NCP or the Congress to join hands with the BJP fearing adverse action against them. Each of them are facing investigation either in the hands of the Enforcement Department (ED) or the CBI.

Ajit Pawar’s case history 

The EOW’s case dates back to 2019 when the Bombay high court had ordered an investigation into the matter following a petition. The EOW filed the First Information Report (FIR) in the case and all accused were booked under the Indian Penal Code sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating), the Prevention of Corruption Act, and Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act.

According to the FIR, loans worth thousands of crores were obtained by sugar cooperatives, spinning mills and other entities from district and cooperative banks in Maharashtra. Ajit Pawar allegedly had direct link as he was one of the directors of the MSC bank then. The loans were allegedly procured through illegal means and the EOW claimed to have found many irregularities in the procurement process. According to the EOW’s FIR, the state exchequer suffered a loss of Rs 25,000 crore between January 1, 2007, and December 31, 2017.

The ED had filed a separate offence alleging money-laundering based on the EOW’s case. It has so far filed two chargesheets, including against Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction MLA Prajakt Tanpure. In the absence of a base offence, like the EOW case, the ED cannot continue with its probe.

Maratha Quota Stir: Gatherings Banned in 2 Maharashtra Districts After Violent Protests

Multiple politicians’ and at least two MLAs’ houses were attacked by protesters a day ago.

New Delhi: In the aftermath of protests over the Maratha quota turning violent on October 30, gatherings have been banned in Maharashtra’s Beed and Dharashiv districts and police have been deployed in large numbers.

A day ago, protesters vandalised the houses of multiple politicians, including members of the Maharashtra legislative assembly. MLA Prakash Solanke, is part of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party wing that split from Sharad Pawar’s party earlier this year.

NDTV has reported that the office of the Sharad Pawar faction of the NCP, along with the Municipal House building in Beed were also set on fire, along with government buses in Solapur and Pandharpur.

Indian Express has reported that protesters also vandalised the office of BJP MLA Prashant Bamb in Sambhaji Nagar.

The house of another NCP MLA, Sandeep Kshirsagar, of the Sharad Pawar wing, was also attacked in Beed city.

In Majalgaon Nagar, too, the municipal building was vandalised.

The New Indian Express has reported that protesters set fire to BJP leader Jaydutta Kshirsagar’s office.


Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde has condemned the violence in the protests and also appealed to activist leader Manoj Jarange-Patil, whose fast has entered its seventh day, to call for peace.

NDTV has reported that his government is likely to accept the report of a committee led by retired judge Sandeep Shinde on how to issue Kunbi caste certificates to the Maratha community.

NCP’s Khadse, Daughter-In-Law Fined Rs 137 Crore for ‘Illegal’ Soil Excavation

According to the notice, they excavated 1.18 lakh brass of murum (fragmented weathered rock) and black stone, without taking any ‘additional permission’ from the authorities to excavate the soil.

New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Eknath Khadse and his daughter-in-law Raksha Khadse, who is Bharatiya Janata Party’s Lok Sabha member, have been asked to pay a Rs 137 crore fine for allegedly excavating soil without permission from their land.

On October 6, government authorities in Jalgaon district of north Maharashtra issued a notice to them directing the same, news agency PTI reported.

According to the notice, they “illegally” excavated 1.18 lakh brass of murum (fragmented weathered rock) and black stone, without taking any “additional permission” from the authorities to excavate the soil.

The land, where the excavation took place belongs to Eknath Khadse, his wife Mandakini Khadse, daughter Rohini Khadse and daughter-in-law Raksha Khadse, it said.

The fine amount of Rs 137,14,81,883 should be paid within 15 days from the date of the issuance of the notice, it added.

Eknath Khadse was with the BJP for around four decades. He quit the party and joined the Sharad Pawar-led NCP in 2020. He is currently a member of the Maharashtra legislative council.

Khadse was at one point a prime contender for the chief minister’s position and second only to Devendra Fadnavis in the Maharashtra BJP.

His daughter-in-law Raksha Khadse represents the Raver Lok Sabha seat.