Why unrest is brewing within Maharashtra BJP
A political storm is awaiting to hit the Maharashtra BJP as many of the party’s elected representatives are sulking. An MP from Bhandara-Gondiya, Nana Patole fired the first salvo. He not only targeted chief minister Devendra Fadnavis but also raised doubts on the working style of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Patole alleged that Fadnavis has failed to bring more funds from the Centre for the schemes being run in the state. He compared other BJP ruled states to underpin his point that Fadnavis did not convince the Centre to assist Maharashtra when it required help.
Patole earlier claimed that Modi doesn’t like when someone asks him questions, but later clarified that he didn’t mean to target the PM. “There is democracy in the party. If the PM or the party president seeks a clarification from me about this I will explain my side of the story to them.”
Patole did not stop here. He continued to criticise Fadnavis saying the state government’s model of Rs 30,500 crore loan waiver to farmers was not suitable for the community. “He (Fadnavis) and I joined politics at the same time but I am not happy with the system he had developed for farmers’ loan waiver,” Patole said.
The state BJP is still unsure why Patole, a prominent OBC leader from eastern Vidarbha, has taken a public stand against his own government. Since his switch over to the BJP from Congress in 2008, Patole has strengthened the party in his home district Bhandara, once known as a stronghold of his bête noire NCP leader Praful Patel. The speculation on Patel’s entry into the BJP has left Patole shattered.
There are many in the league of sulking leaders. One of them is former revenue minister Eknath Khadse, another prominent OBC leader. Khadse has not openly criticised Fadnavis but he has sent out a clear message that the party will have to suffer because he is being neglected.
He was recently booked in a molestation case filed by social activist Anjali Damania, but Khadse is not willing to remain silent.
He will keep embarrassing Fadnavis till the CM reveals findings of the Dinkar Zoting committee which probed Khadse’s involvement in a land deal at Bhosari in Pune. His wife Mandakini’s involvement in the deal was a reason for his ouster from the Cabinet last year.
Many in the party believe that the state’s inept handling of the farmers’ issues and the majority Maratha community have earned a bad name for it. “If any community has the power to defeat us in the 2019 elections, it’s the farmers,” a senior BJP leader told Mail Today. “We desperately need to take corrective measures to improve our image in the rural areas.”
No wonder, the party’s internal assessment states that at least 36 MLAs and 11 MPs of the party could face defeat in the next election as there is growing unrest among the voters. Fadnavis has warned the legislators to improve their performance. The legislators ask: Who will ask the CM to do the same?
(Courtesy of Mail Today.)