Resentment within Congress, NCP over ‘safe passage’ to Fadnavis govt

Mumbai: Smooth sailing for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Maharashtra government in the first week of the state legislature’s monsoon session has made some opposition legislators worry that they have not been able to mount a serious challenge.

This, despite the farm loan waiver, crop insurance scheme, corruption charges in the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) projects, and a building collapse in Mumbai offering enough opportunities for the opposition.

Congress and Nationalist Congress Party legislators as well as functionaries say the government was virtually given a safe passage on all these issues, in particular the farm loan waiver, even though the implementation of the scheme was patchy.

“Many of us pointed out anomalies in the implementation of the scheme during the discussion. The loan waiver has not been useful for farmers in the current kharif season because no benefits have actually been given yet. In fact, the chief minister himself admitted this when he said that not a rupee could be spent till the loan waiver amount was budgeted for. Yet, our leaders said they were satisfied with the chief minister’s reply to the debate,” said a Congress leader and member of the legislative council referring to the senior opposition leaders in both the houses of state legislature.

He said a large number of opposition legislators expected the senior leaders to at least stage a walkout after the chief minister’s reply. “To say that we were satisfied with the response was to accept that the points we raised were without any substance. When the farmers out there expect us to represent their grievances, we cannot be virtually complimenting the government,” said the Congress leader, requesting anonymity.

An NCP legislator in the assembly said the opposition has also not been able to draft better strategies than the government. “Even potential political issues need good strategies and floor management. We missed a trick when one of the BJP legislators only proposed discussion on the farm loan waiver. The discussion should have been proposed by the opposition. By getting its members to take charge of the issue, the BJP set the agenda,” said the NCP legislator, asking not to be named.

He pointed out how Fadnavis had “skilfully” exploited the differences between Congress and NCP over the issue of resolutions commending the contribution of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and NCP president Sharad Pawar. “It was an issue we (Congress and NCP) should have sorted out among ourselves. But our leaders sought Fadnavis’s intervention and he gladly offered it. In the process, his stature grew and we cut a very sorry figure,” he said.

A state Congress functionary, who did not want to be named, said the opposition in Maharashtra was demoralized by the outcome of the presidential poll and the developments in other states. “There is chaos in the opposition camps everywhere and we cannot remain immune to it. The presidential poll showed that the BJP nominee got at least 10 votes more than its quota. Internally, the MLAs who cross-voted can be identified but there is little merit in doing this. Unless the party leadership addresses the core concerns, even internal disciplinary action is meaningless,” said the Congress functionary, who has of late turned a bitter critic of the party high-command’s strategy.

He said the developments in the Congress camp in the neighbouring states of Gujarat and Goa, and Bihar where the BJP had managed to wrest back power, were disconcerting for the Congress camp in Maharashtra. “There is a frequent speculation about 10 to 15 MLAs in touch with the BJP and the party high-command has not been able to offer any credible rejection of this speculation. We cannot hope to take on the BJP in and outside the legislature in such fashion,” he said.