What happens next to such booklets?

Sharpening its offensive against the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government, the state unit of Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has released a booklet containing details of the alleged scams, on November 16. The booklet written by Dr. Kirit Somaiya, who is leading the attack from the front, contains alleged scams that took place in the last two years’ rule of the Sena, NCP, and Congress government.  

The booklets such as the recent one, titled ‘Mahavasuli Sarkarche Ghotale’ are not new in Maharashtra politics. But the real question is what happens next to such booklets! Such booklets have always proved beneficial for the concerned political parties for the creation of a favourable political atmosphere. The booklets become a topic of debate and discussions for a few days, particularly during the heated atmosphere of elections and soon thereafter goes into oblivion. Even if the party that has published the booklet assumes power, rarely anybody has referred to them.

The question remains unanswered as to who will take an initiative to prevent such scams to improve the system of governance. Whenever some action was visible, it was because of the cognizance taken by the judiciary. Even though someone from the state cabinet tendered resignation, he has made a comeback saying nothing was proved against him. 

The black paper published by Congress-NCP

If past incidents are recalled, a booklet titled ‘Kaali Patrika’ (the black paper) was published by Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) when the Shiv Sena-BJP coalition government was in power. It contained allegations on the then government’s policy to allow industries in Mumbai to close down and sell their land for commercial exploitation, corruption in granting approvals to new residential schools for the backward communities, allegations of corruption while allocating work contracts for irrigation projects in Krishna Valley, slum redevelopment scheme (SRA) and special concessions given to the developer firm engaged in MP Mill Compound redevelopment projects, flip-flop over the redevelopment of BDD chawls, etc. 

So, what followed next? In the 1999 Assembly elections, Shiv Sena-BJP lost power to a new political equation between Congress and the newly formed NCP which was led by Vilasrao Deshmukh. Whether that government ever tried to get to the root of every issue given in this booklet? The answer was of course no. The chaos in SRA never abated. Nobody can claim that the buildings to accommodate the slum dwellers under this scheme are of good quality and all the basic amenities are provided to them. Similarly, the MP Mill compound redevelopment scheme is still mired in some of the other controversies. The redevelopment of BDD chawls is hopefully gaining momentum for now. But when it would be complete nobody knows. The complaints in getting caste certificates on time still exist despite being raised on the floor of the state legislature. 

BJP’s booklet!

In response to the publication of the black paper by Congress-NCP, the BJP in 2001-02, published a booklet titled ‘Raja Tupashi Janata Upashi’ indicating- while people were in the lurch, those in the government enjoying fruits of power. It dealt with the issues such as how efforts were on to wind up the cotton monopoly procurement scheme, welfare schemes suffering due to the paucity of funds, child deaths happening due to the malnutrition in tribal belts of Dhule-Nandurbar, even the state power utility was in a complete mess and so on. 

This booklet failed to make an impact and the issues remained neglected. The schemes meant for malnourished children still face judicial scrutiny with censures by the Bombay High Court. The affairs at the state electricity board are still the subject of stringent criticism.

‘Panchnama of alliance government scams’

Late Kanhaiyalal Gidwani, the then Shiv Sena member in State Council had published a booklet containing details of various scams such as procurement of split chickpeas for distribution through ration shops, sugar export scam, wind energy scam, bauxite mining scam, and cooperative bank scam during the tenure of the alliance government. 

BJP’s charge sheet

On the eve of the Assembly elections due in 2009, the BJP published a pamphlet terming the 10-year rule of the Congress-NCP alliance government as a black period. The booklet was titled Chargesheet against Congress-NCP Government. The booklet contained land scams in MIDC, Waqf Board among others. Besides that, it had mentions of Dharavi Redevelopment Project, redevelopment of BDD plots, redevelopment of slum dwellers on the airport land, mismanagement in SRA projects was very much there as always. Most of the issues remained as it is although the BJP-led government ruled the state between 2014 to 2019. 

A booklet by Shiv Sena

On the eve of the Assembly elections in 2014, the Shiv Sena came out with a booklet titled ‘Documents of the scams that happened in the 15 years of misrule of the Congress-NCP’. The details contained various scams ranging from the development of Mega Cities, Midday meal scheme, shelter homes and orphanages, the textile mill lands, land allotted to Videocon Industries, Worli Bandra Sea Link, Waqf land, MIDC land, etc. Even though the Shiv Sena joined the BJP-led government in 2014 hardly any efforts were made to unearth these scams. 

Even Dr. Somaiya was seen raising several controversial issues during the Congress-NCP rule. But no follow-up was taken even though his party assumed power in 2014, to take the issues to its logical end. Even after releasing such booklets, follow-up action remains elusive.

The government acts only when cases reach the courts of law. Normally, once the election is over, the contentious issues of the last five years often become part of history. No one tries to get to the root of it. Because in politics, no one wants to antagonize anybody, only to maintain extreme flexibility for forming political alliances to usurp power. 

Finally, people who are the real stakeholders in a democracy like us get nothing. They exercise their voting rights to elect new governments and even if change happens, the system remains the same.