Sanjay Raut, Fadnavis and a few words of appreciation

 

In the past couple of days after he stepped out of the jail, Raut did show his aggression but avoided stinging criticism of top BJP leadership. He surprised everyone by praising deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis.

So, this is the biggest talking point in political circles since Sanjay Raut was released on bail on Wednesday. Has the firebrand Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader mellowed down after his three-month-long stay in Arthur Road Jail as he was facing Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation in a Patrawala Chawl-related case? In the past couple of days after he stepped out of the jail, Raut did show his aggression but avoided stinging criticism of top BJP leadership. He surprised everyone by praising deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. He said Fadnavis was doing some good work in the housing department and that he would even meet the latter soon to apprise him about the situation inside the jail. Further, he said he would even meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and union home minister Amit Shah to raise these issues. Raut has not resumed his daily briefing of the media, especially electronic media that used to happen almost every morning when he used to attack the Modi-led government at the Centre or the BJP. So, has he softened a bit?

There have been speculations that the Sena (UBT) top brass wants to go slow on Fadnavis and instead harden its stand against Eknath Shinde who is their enemy number one. “While BJP was a known rival and we knew what they were trying to corner us, it was one of our own who backstabbed us. As such, our priority would be to decimate him,” said a close aide of Uddhav Thackeray.

While speaking to the media, Raut also insisted that it is Fadnavis who actually runs the government in the state.

Incidentally, this is happening at the time where there seems to be an uneasiness between Shinde and Fadnavis while running the government together and many are wondering whether there would be a cold war in Mantralaya.

Are the contours of the political battle in Maharashtra changing a bit? We will have to wait for a few more days to find out, especially as the next big battle over the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is expected early next year.

Posting problems

Chief minister Eknath Shinde seems to be unwilling to appoint a particular IPS officer as commissioner of police in Thane. According to the grapevine on the sixth floor of the Mantralaya, deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis who heads the home department is keen on this appointment but Shinde doesn’t want the particular officer in his backyard. It seems Fadnavis will have to do some more convincing of Shinde if he wants the officer to be in Thane. It is not limited to IPS. Shinde is not much impressed with BMC commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal but Fadnavis is not in a mood to shift the IAS officer immediately. But then, these kinds of disagreements are not new in Maharashtra during the tenure of alliance governments. Ruling allies often have differences over key appointments, whether political or executive. And the last time the state had a single party government was between 1990 and 1995.

A positive outcome of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra for the Congress in Maharashtra is that certain party leaders, who were suspected to be building bridges with the BJP, still seem to be with the party. There were rumours that Congress leaders such as Vishwajit Kadam, Amit Deshmukh and his brother Dheeraj Deshmukh among others were leaning towards the BJP. All three are MLAs and two of them were ministers in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Amit and Dheeraj are sons of former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, while Vishwajit’s father was former industries minister Patangrao Kadam. Over the past two-three days, these legislators were seen at the Bharat Jodo Yatra and many in the Congress camp have heaved a sigh of relief.

In a rally at Nanded as part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra on Thursday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge surprised the crowd by speaking in Marathi. The crowd cheered as he attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led government at the Center in chaste Marathi. Kharge was born in Bidar district of Karnataka and grew up in Gulbarga. These areas are close to Maharashtra and many people there speak Marathi along with Kannada. Kharge is probably the second Congress president who can speak Marathi. One of his predecessors, PV Narasimha Rao, also could speak Marathi well. Rao also represented Ramtek Lok Sabha constituency in Nagpur district.

 

 

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