BJP vies for President’s rule

As no attempt succeeds to destabilize the government, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) seems banking on bringing the state under President’s rule. The party on Saturday demanded dismissal of the Mahavikas Aghadi (MVA) government opposing the state cabinet decision to favor Shiv Sena MLA Pratap Sarnaik by waiving off penalty and interest levied for unauthorized construction in Thane. The delegation led by the state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil made the demand in a meeting with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari. Here, one shouldn’t forget that the BJP heading the government at the center and the state governor is the ex-BJP man. 

The demand has not come all of a sudden. A few days back, Chandrakant Patil had said that the situation was fit for the imposition of the President’s rule. This statement raised several eyebrows forcing the NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena spokesman MP Sanjay Raut to react immediately. Normally such a demand is not made without any solid background. 

The atmosphere does not heat up

These days BJP hardly misses an opportunity to target the government, be it over a small or big issue. However, the public perception has not significantly changed neither on the law-and-order situation nor over the allegations of misgovernance. On the contrary, whenever BJP tries to raise the heat against the government, a survey report or observations by the judiciary comes in favor of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray. 

Lately, BJP started targeting CM Thackeray over his no-show at Mantralaya or the public events. The BJP sought to corner him with a demand to hand over the charge, either to his wife Rashmi Thackeray or his son, minister Aaditya Thackeray. Recently, he skipped a review meeting on Coronavirus chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP’s criticism probably prompted the CM to attend another review meeting called by the PM on Saturday. 

In the recent past, Chandrakant Patil had also challenged PWD Minister Ashok Chavan, when the latter asked the central government to find a solution on OBC reservation, to accept the President’s rule, and hand over the management to the Center. 

Issues aplenty but perception does not change

Be it the prolonged strike of ST workers, investigations by the central government agencies putting prominent leaders of the ruling side on tenterhooks, amendments to the University Act, or the communal tensions in Amravati, Nanded, and Malegaon- the public mood refuses to go against the MVA government. Why does it not go against the government? It’s for the BJP to think about. 

If the BJP says that the atmosphere in the state was against the government, then Thackeray should not have found his name among the best Chief Ministers of India. If BJP smells something else, the party should challenge the survey report, but that may not be possible.

The penalty proposal is old 

Leaving aside other issues, the BJP has now demanded dismissal of the Shiv Sena, NCP, and Congress government for giving undue benefits- penalty and interest waiver for unauthorized construction in Vihang Garden, Thane- to MLA Pratap Sarnaik. But the proposal to regularize illegal floors by levying penalty was moved when the BJP-Shiv Sena government was in power and the urban development department that supervises the affairs of civic bodies was with the then CM Devendra Fadnavis. The question is- whether the then Municipal Commissioner of Thane could have moved such a proposal, had the government not been inclined. 

While the government is demanding dismissal, the issue of the waiver seems more important to the Opposition than any other issue. It’s a breach of the oath of office given to the cabinet and no decision to offer personal benefits can be taken under it, the party argues. The oath states a member of the cabinet will discharge his duties without fear or favor. Had it been for the breach of the oath, not just one, but many governments would have been dismissed. 

Discharging duties without fear or favor means a minister will not favor a particular person or organization and extend benefits. But there have been numerous cases of benefits offered to certain individuals or organizations from time to time. Such cases came to light in the periodic audits done by the CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General of India). But there is hardly any instance to show that the governor took a drastic decision to dismiss a particular minister or the government. 

Constant abuse of office

If one looks at the list of government-aided bodies, many cases will unfold where valuable pieces of land have been allotted to them by the government at dirt cheap rates, tax exemptions or concessions or waivers given to the beneficiaries or the institutions run by people who were either holding important positions in the government or their near and dear ones. A list of contractors, suppliers attached to various departments will reveal names of those who are near or dear ones of powers-that-be. But rarely had Raj Bhavan taken a serious note of it, nor did any political leader or the party objected to it.  

It is unlikely to come out in open

The CAG’s reports, despite numerous objections, have rarely been discussed or acted upon. Even after names of individuals or the institutions and firms found a mention in such reports for accruing undue benefits, no serious attention has been given. Moreover, no voice was raised when some well-known faces from the state politics were allowed to go scot-free for want of ‘sufficient evidence’ or permission denied for their prosecution despite huge controversies. Now, the BJP must be eagerly waiting for the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the suspension of its 12 MLAs. The party can take advantage of the situation if it goes against the three-party government. Even then one cannot predict if it will help to change the public perception of the government. The party, it seems, is working on a plan to create a situation to have combined elections to Lok Sabha and the state assembly, under the President’s rule.