Parmanand Pandey, Advocate, Supreme Court (Secretary General IPC)
Nothing is impossible in politics if rank opportunism becomes the guiding principle and it has been proved beyond any shadow of a doubt after the swearing-in of Udhav Thakre as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. The alliance of Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party and Congress party and the support of the Samajwadi Party was unthinkable a few weeks ago. Thus, this alliance is nothing less than a miracle but the Yaksha Prashna will continue to haunt everybody about its longevity and capacity to deliver to the people of the state.
Maharashtra is one of the richest states of the country, Mumbai as the financial capital of the country, but on the other hand, the farmers are nowhere in as much distress as they are in this state. Let us hope and pray that the government of diametrically opposite ideologies, whose leaders have been the bitter enemies of one another would work in unison, at least, for the cause of the people of the state.
It is indeed the mockery of the democracy, but some say it is the beauty, that the largest party, the BJP, having won nearly two or two and half times more seats than any of the allying parties is out of power. In a way, it is against the mandate of the people, who voted the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance to rule. It is also true that the strike rate of the BJP in the assembly election was nearly seventy per cent i. e. it won almost 70 % of the seats on which it constated. The strike rate of Shiv Sena, the second-largest party, was less than 45 per cent. Therefore, not going by the pre-poll alliance is an appalling betrayal with the people of the state.
There is no point in discussing the whataboutery of the breaking of the alliance, which is as clear as daylight that the overambitious tantrums of the Shiv Sena were the root cause. In this backdrop, one point must always be kept in mind that the alliance has always been an anathema to the Congress unless, of course, it has been in the driving seat. It has always refused to play the second fiddle. Take the example of Chaudhari Charan Singh, who had to resign even without facing the trust vote in the Lok Sabha. Chandrashekhar had to go in less than four months. Devegowda and Inder Kumar Gujral had to suffer all insults and indignities but even they were not spared. Very recently, the Congress Party made HD Kumaraswamy of Karnataka eat the humble pie.
The alliance of Shiv Sena, NCP and the Congress is bound to crumble due to their pulling of power in different directions. Therefore, the people of Maharashtrians will have to keep their fingers crossed about the Thakre government. The snake and mongoose cannot live together in peace for a long.