Indira-Modi Similarities

The biggest negative point in the 10 year UPA rule was the country had a Prime Minister and a De-facto Prime Minister. Officially work was carried out in South Block of the Secretariat Building but was authorized in 10 Janpath. Singer resided in 7 Race Course Road but lyrics and background score were given from either Akbar Road or 10 Janpath again. Hence it created a huge vacuum of elected leader as head of state, like Sanjay Baru explained our PM in his book as the accidental prime minister. This vacuum led to the rise of Narendra Modi from the confines of Gujarat to become the head of world's largest democracy.

A strong Hindutva leader, Modi captured the imaginations of voters and won the election on politics of economic development. Many comparisons were made of Modi with other Prime Minsters but the most best suited comparison for him was with Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.The choice might seem to be confusing as she was neither part of Sangh parivar nor belonged to saffron political alliance. But it seems to be very identical when one sees their work pattern in public life.

Back in 1971 there was break up in the Congress party. Following an electoral loss in 1967 Indira Gandhi had voiced against the seniors in the party. Then congress president expelled Indira from the party after which she formed her own faction and managed to retain most of the Congress MPs on her side. And finally in 1971 by giving a call Garibi Hatao Indira Lao Congress Bachao she won a landslide victory for Congress (I). The point to be taken into consideration here is the entire election was centered around one person. In 2014, Modi became the top leader in the party after bypassing all senoir leaders. The entire election was centred around one person. By giving a call for Congress Mukt Bharat and  Modi Lao Desh Bachao he brought a first single party government in Delhi after three decades with 282 seats of BJP and 336 seats of the 29 parties BJP led National Democratic Alliance.

During the reign of Indira Gandhi she had total control of party as well as the government. Though RSS has the remote control of both party as well government but on books Modi is the leader of the government whereas his man friday Amit Shah is in control of the party affairs.

When you are leader there is always a controversy in your name. Indira Gandhi was under huge pressure for her action in Operation Bluestar in the Golden Temple in Amritsar to kill the Khalistan Separatist leader Bhindranwale. Similarly Narendra Modi was, is by some sections of media and opposition parties even today, criticised for being biased in handling the Godhra Rail Burnings and the riots which followed. Even his party insiders did not spare him when then PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee had said Modi should follow his Raj Dharma while tackling such a sensitive issue.

The most important similarity between both the leaders is their oratory skills. Even after being cornered by Congress senior leadership in 1971 she managed to get people by her side. When there was an anti congress wave in the 1977 post Emergency, Congress(I) did win majority seats South India though they were decimated in North. This was the reason Gandhi fought in the Chikmagalur by poll to mark her comeback. Even after being rooted out of power in 77, she brought her party back in business in 1980 by breaking the Janata Party coalition. For BJP, they got a natural orator in Narendra Modi. I would say a more powerful and effective than Indira Gandhi. He galvanized the entire BJP cadre with the chants of Abki Baar Modi Sarkar in all his campaign rallies. Like Indira fought from Chikmagalur and Rae Bareli in 1980 Modi fought election from Varanasi and Vadodara.

Horsetrading was another common factor associated with both of them. In case of Indira Gandhi, one aptly remembers the Aaya Rama Gaya Ram stint by Bhajan Lal, CM of Janata Party in Haryana back in 1980 when Gandhi came back to power in the Centre. The phrase 'Aaya Ram Gaya Ram' is a gift from Haryana to National Politics which was coined when Gaya Lal had changed three parties in a day back in 1967. Incase of Bhajan Lal after cracking a deal with Gandhi, CM along with his entire cabinet left Janata Party and overnight joined Congress thus making it a Congress state. In the six months of Modi's tenure BJP was accused of getting into horsetrading of AAP legislators in Delhi in order to get the magic figure in the assembly which was in suspended animation following resignation of CM Arvind Kejriwal. Even in Maharashtra, though pre-poll, BJP imported around 60 candidates from Congress, NCP, MNS and Shiv Sena of which 52 were from the ruling Congress-NCP outfit.

During the 1971 campaign Indira criss crossed the entire nation to campaign for her party. She wanted to create her pan India appeal and image bigger than her party. In the entire campaign Gandhi was fond of wearing the symbolic headgear of the region in which she traveled. She also used to campaign for all state polls for Congress. Narendra Modi also addressed around 400 rallies in all corners of the country. He also addressed in remote locations such as Tripura where BJP has zero presence and also made inroads in regional backyard in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal. Even Modi wore head gear of those regions where ever he travelled. Modi is also the campaign leader for BJP in state polls as well. He addressed around 30 rallies in Maharashtra, then in Haryana and now in Jammu & Kashmir and Jharkhand.

These are a few striking resemblance between the two powerful leaders who are separated by three decades. The entire political spectrum changed after the demise of Indira Gandhi. There came an era which was dominated by Mandal-Mandir debates. Then came the era of Alliance politics where like minded parties agreed to a common minimum programme to jointly rule in state or in centre. Now with the annoinment of Modi as the Prime Minister, it has marked a beginning of another new era of politics of economic development. This has been so far successful even after General Election as BJP captured two states, Maharashtra & Harayna, banking on the Modi wave. Like all the oppositon came together to defeat Indira back in 1977, same movements are visible even today. Nitish Kumar and Laloo Prasad Yadav coming together to fight the by polls. Mulayam Singh Yadav also joining the bandwagon. In east, Mamata Banerjee rumored to be joining hands with her fierce rival Left and Congress to stop rising BJP. Only time will reveal to what extent does this new brand politics assist BJP in fulfilling Modi's mission of Congress Mukt Bharat.

PS: The most important and critical part I didn't mention above about Indira Gandhi was the Emergency era which is, till date, the darkest period in Independent Democratic Bharat's history. The reason for skipping was a hope that Narendra Modi does not gives us a chance to use this as a parameter in the two leaders comparison list.


-SR

The Suffering that never ended

The nation was just coming out of Diwali celebration for the year when suddenly a news broke out in the media. Warren Anderson, Chariman of Union Carbide Corporation died in a nursing home in Florida. TOI, country's largest English daily, didn't spare the opportunity to express the anger of the nation in it's headlines mentioning him as Bhopal's Tormentor. Though the official date of his death is somewhere in September, the family did not announce his death for reasons only known to them. The news surfaced only after the New York Times noticed his obituary in a small Connecticut newspaper called Vero Beach and then confirmed from the public records in order to release it to the world.

Warren Anderson's desk was said to have rested a paperweight with the Chinese proverb, ''Leader is best when people barely know he exists." Well he did implement that in his real life. After the Bhopal Gas tragedy that killed 15000+ Indians and still counting, Anderson did everything possible to ensure people knew he barely existed, disappearing from public view and living in hiding for nearly 30 years to escape New Delhi's feeble effort to bring him to justice. Normally after a person's death people pay their final respects to the departing soul. But in case of Anderson, the general sentiment on social media as news of his death surfaced was that he would rot in hell after being meted justice at the hands of his maker. This sentiment was the result of his company making Bhopal a land of dead in the fateful year of 1984.

I came across many rumours and half stories about the biggest industrial disaster. Not until I read Five Past Midnight by Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro I could actually fathom the gravity of the tragedy and it's repercussion on the generations to come. It gave a detail account of the rise of Union Carbide Corporation in India. 

The factory was built in 1969 to produce a pesticide named Sevin. It was one it's kind product in those times in India as no other manufacturers attempted in doing so because of the huge production cost. In technical terms its production process followed by the company was as follows: Methylamine reacted with Phosgene to form Methyl Isocyante(MIC), which was an intermediate product. MIC was further treated with 1-Naphthol to form the final product Sevin or Carbaryl which was it's brand name.

Storing MIC in huge quantity meant holding a nuclear bomb in the factory premises. This was the reason why another chemical giant Bayer kept itself away from using MIC initially. The Bhopal factory was not well equipped to handle the gas created by the sudden addition of water to the MIC tank. Also MIC was kept at 20 degrees Celsius, not the 4.5 degrees advised by the manual. Hence when water was released in the MIC tanks the plant was not at all equipped to handle such a disaster and the gas went out in the atmosphere through the factory chimney. The toxic effect of the compound, when around 42,000 kilograms of MIC and other gases were released from the underground reservoirs of UCIL, was so massive that it killed thousands of people at a time and many more in the years to come. Lakhs of people suffered temporary disablement. The extent of cruelty was so huge that some people in and around the factory premises who slept in the night after a hard days work with hope for a new sunrise, never woke up. The pile of dead bodies was so much that made things difficult for the people to recognise the dead. The author explained one such incident which sent a chill down my spine. Two women, one hindu and other muslim, where fighting over a dead body. Both of them were claiming that the body was of their husband. The dispute grew louder that finally third person interfered and asked to strip the body naked from below to decide to whom the body belonged.

Four days after the incident Anderson came to India and was immediately arrested by the Bhopal police. However our country couldn't dare to prosecute him and was released immediately. The impact which the gas leak had on the countrymen, this was also that much painful that the person responsible for so many deaths was allowed to walk away free. The USA, which considers itself as messenger of peace and justice, gave full protection to Anderson and was never allowed to be extradited in order to bring him to justice. Sometimes I get a thought, what consequence would Anderson have faced had the same incident happened in American soil. Even our country merely declared him a fugitive and kept the status quo of other transactions with the USA as it is. Why didn't India take a tough stand against the US in order to isolate them in international community. Had an Indian committed such a crime in America, would India have saved the person from the impact of International law? The USA gave rigorous imprisonment to Rajat Gupta for a financial scam which did not result in any loss of life. But the world's biggest industrial disaster was not important in the eyes of US laws.

It has remained debatable that who from our machinery supported Anderson due to which he lived a comfortable life for 3 decades after the disaster while in Bhopal the count of dead went on increasing. The then PM Rajiv Gandhi was also in the list of names which were rumored to have helped Anderson to flee the country. When Osama Bin Laden attacked the US in September 2001, they invaded Afghanistan to search the culprit. But when, around same amount of people died in the industrial disaster in India due to an American the same US shielded him by all possible means till his natural death.

After the death news of Anderson flashed on Indian media, people in Bhopal came together near the Union Carbide factory premises to give their last respects to the owner in their own way. A huge picture of Anderson was kept on display and people came in queue and spat on that picture one after another.


PS: Many blamed Rajiv Gandhi to have assisted Anderson. I am actually happy, like he explained the anti sikh riots after Indira Gandhi's assassination,  that he didn't say something like, 'When a big company leaks......'


-SR

BJP-NCP Love Affair

After 15 years, finally, there has been a regime change in Maharashtra. For the first time there is a Saffron party in ruling as well as in Opposition bench. But was it all a smooth ride in the rise of Narendra Modi led BJP which turned out to be largest party. New party or alliance was sure to take charge in the state considering the considerable good work done by the previous Congress-NCP setup. But the way things turned out in the end was quite disappointing as well as surprising.

Soon after BJP led NDA came to power in Lok Sabha, BJP started moving it's pieces for capturing Vidhan Sabha in Maharashtra and Haryana. The Mahayuti which had Shiv Sena, BJP, RPI, RSP, SSS and Shiv Sangram was expected to come to power with more than 200 seats in the state. However the tussle started between the two main stakeholders in the alliance, Shiv Sena & BJP over seat sharing arrangement. As decided by Late Shiv Sena Chief Balasaheb Thackeray & senoir BJP leader Late Pramod Mahajan, the seat sharing formula said BJP will be elder brother in General Elections while Shiv Sena will be elder in state elections. So the formula of 171-117 was always considered as the base for negotiations. BJP appointed Rajiv Pratap Rudy to take control of Maharashtra elections. The noise started increasing, moment BJP started sending proposals of equal seat sharing to Shiv Sena.

Before the alliance partners meetings even started, ShivSena had released it's first part of the Vision Document which was pertaining to Mumbai. In the presentation ShivSena launced it's Mission 150 for the state polls and had declared party chief Uddhav Thackeray as their CM candidate. This created a bit of animosity amongst other parties in the alliance. Hence BJP started looking for it's option to grow beyond the restrictions of Mahayuti and Shivsena. They knew very well that this was their golden chance to score above ShivSena and stake claim for the CM post. The alliance formula also said the party with highest number of seats will lead the government. Hence Shivsena declaring their CM candidate on behalf of the alliance made the environment sour even before official discussions had begun.

The unrest due to seat sharing had finally led to a split in the 25 years alliance, and both Shivsena and BJP decided to go solo in the state polls. The other stakeholder from the Mahayuti decided to stay with BJO thus leaving ShivSena alone in the first state election post demise of Balasaheb Thackeray. The important catch in this process was merely couple of hours after this break up annoucement was made, NCP announced it is parting ways with Congress and also withdrew support from the government thus forcing President's Rule for a month in the state. It seems the BJP and Sharad Pawar do have some secret affair wherein one gives hand when other ship in sinking. To understand this affair we need to go a bit in the past.
The first time when Shivsena and BJP came together it was Sharad Pawar who was the reason for their breakup. In1984 Shivsena fielded 2 candidates under BJP symbol, though unsuccessfully. Congress won the election with landslide margin of over 400 seats due to the sympathy wave of Indira Gandhi. BJP shifted the defeat in Mumbai on Shivsena even though they themselves managed to get 2 seats throughout the country out of which one was due to TDP. A big reason for BJP being decimated in 1984 was RSS had tacitly backed the Congress and spread the word that its cadre were free to vote as they pleased. Even Nanaji Deshmukh had endorsed Indira’s Punjab policies and asked it's cadres to vote for Congress.

After the defeat BJP drifted away from the Shivsena as many leaders saw it as a controversial outfit. Later in 1985 Sharad Pawar formed an alliance the Purogami Lokshahi Aghadi (PULOD) bringing together Congress-S, Janata Party and Left parties for Maharashtra state elections which was principally against the Congress-I. BJP decided to join the alliance but Shivsena stayed away. Result was Shivsena won only one seat in the assembly but captured BMC.

Shivsena earned huge response after the Shah Bano case and also won the Vile Parle by election in 1987 on Hindutva plank for which Shivsena Chief was banned from voting for six years. As the VHP led Ram Janmabhoomi Movement began in Ayodhya, LK Advani was told to lead the Rath Yatra. Finally BJP embraced Hindutva and joined hands with Shivsena in 1989 as Sharad Pawar rejoined the Congress-I outfit. Balasaheb Thackeray had reminded the BJP leaders more than once how they were close to Sharad Pawar.

In 2014, again Sharad Pawar has his own party NCP who was now trying to enter NDA fold during Lok Sabha elections. However Shivsena opposed strongly to this step and hence BJP had to cancel any such plans. Even RSS was not willing to allow NCP to enter the alliance who had coined a term Saffron Terror. In the Lok Sabha election BJP Prime Ministerial Candidate Narendra Modi had campaigned extensively in Maharashtra but had knowingly ingnored Baramati constituency which belonged to Sharad Pawar's daughter Supriya Sule. In the various TV interviews of different party leaders during the run up to state polls, one leader from Mahayuti Madhav Jankar of RSP had opened the secret that Sharad Pawar and Narendra Modi had a deal during Lok Sabha campaign period that former will not campaign in Baramati. And if NCP is able to get 3-4 MPs only then his party will support BJP endeavors in the Rajya Sabha, as UPA still has majority in the upper house. Hence, inspite Jankar being a strong candidate against Sule, he lost the election by small margin as neither Modi nor Uddhav campaigned for him Baramati.

When the BJP fell short of majority again in Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha, NCP supported BJP in the voice vote for confidence motion of the minority BJP government. The secret love affair was reignited after 3 decades showing that it is still lively and ripe. BJP thought it was convenient to walk away from Shivsena by taking outside support from NCP. When everyone is pretty much aware that they cannot be trusted at any moment of time. Sharad Pawar left Congress in 1999 to form NCP by criticising Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin. But joined hands with the same party and ruled the state for 15years and also country for 10 years. Now they supported BJP in vote of confidence by taking moral ground of respecting people's mandate and that support is unconditional with only intention of giving state a stable government and immediately after 2 days Sharad Pawar asked his NCP workers to be ready for midterm polls in state at anytime.

Hope Modi-Shah duo take cognizance of these ground realities and realise the gravity of risk they are taking by accepting NCP support in the state.



-SR

Happy Birthday Dinkz

Firstly, Many Happy Returns Of The Day. Hope you have a super rocking day.

Now the objective to write here is because of my unsuccessful surprise plan. Like the government declassifies secret files after a period of time, I open the secrets of my surprise plans once the occasion is over. Mismatch comparison, I guess. Ignore it. Actually I was going to send you a Greeting Card via courier. But one of the bank exam dates came in this week and I couldn't go ahead with the plan. I am extremely sorry for No tangible Gifts from my side, so please accept this virtual gift.

Plan was to purchase a normal birthday card which will have enough space at the back so I can write my own message. Now that I couldn't send it, atleast I can give you the message which was ready with me.

Task was quite simple. I don’t have any big creative mind like yours. Remember, somewhere back in July I had asked suggestion from you about how to design a birthday card. That one was for Vanessa. But I do understand human nature. It’s not the price tag of the gift but the sincerity involved in giving the same is what makes it special. So I’ll write down here what I was going to put in the card.

On Left hand side of the page where wishes are printed:

The words printed on the adjacent side are by the manufacturer of this card. My wishes you will find on the next page. So please royally ignore these words and turn over.

Ps: You might feel like throwing the card away the moment you turn this page, such is the beauty of my handwriting. But please bear with me.

On the next page:

Being introduced by a common source, we do not have too many moments together in these many years of our acquaintance. But our friendship is unique in it’s own way. To talk about the birthday girl, one who enjoys her academics (I wonder how can one enjoy ones studies:P), book lover, hardcore tree lover who also enjoys football and politics. I, especially, enjoy our discussions on the last subject. Considering your knowledge in political science you can make a good career in politics, now that Anjali Damania has resigned and AAP is looking for a face in the state.

The uniqueness of our friendship is I don’t have even a picture of us together. But like the old saying, a friend in need is a friend indeed. Whenever a person goes through some weird phases in life, when many thoughts keep encircling your head, when judging the situation goes beyond your control. That is the time when that person yearns for an ear to listen out. I still remember that call I made to you in one such weird phase in my life. Thank you for hearing me out then. This mention doesn’t mean that I am living in the past. It’s just that I don’t forget the people who were there around when I needed friends the most.  Also the surprise you and Vanessa had planned where you asked me to come to meet you but it was Vanessa who had come back to the city who met me. These small gestures matter a lot.

So I take this opportunity to thank you, buddy, for allowing me to be in your friends list. My bestest wishes on this day.

Happy Birthday Adi, once again. God Bless.

This was going to be the content of that greeting card which I could never send you. Anyways, I hope you have great day. You are surrounded by all your friends and family and flooded with good wishes. Enjoy the day and have a rocking year ahead.

PS: I don't have any pictures but I do have one screenshot of your message on my book. See if you remember it. Must be atleast, 6years old.

-SR

Decoding Vidhan Sabha Results

Vidhan Sabha result for 2014 were declared on 19^th October. Regime change, as expected, is about to happen. It’s just the manner in which things took place in the end was not at all satisfying as a Marathi Voter.

Ruling Congress-NCP were reduced to 42 & 41 respectively. The alliance of ShivSena-BJP and other small parties known as Mahayuti was expected to come to power. But in a complete surprise, BJP who broke the alliance came out to be largest party with 122 seats. Whereas ShivSena got 63 seats. The biggest setback in this result was Maharashtra Navnirman Sena was reduced to mere 1 seat while Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen, who contested for the first time, won 3 seats. Let’s get into a bit detail of this historic election result.

Breakup Yuti

The 25 year long alliance between Shiv Sena & BJP was broken on seat sharing issue for mere 2-3 seats and both decided to go into polls, for the 1^st time in over two decades, on their own. This event, though, did not happen in a fortnight. Post Lok Sabha result, BJP was trying to flex its muscles in all states by banking on the Modi wave. After LS result, Narendra Modi elevated his right hand man Amit Shah for top post of BJP. By this, he fully controlled the government as well as the party organization. Immediately after the LS polls, there were certain By-Polls on assembly seats in North India. In these, BJP performance was average. Modi being the PM wasn’t there for campaigning. Hence all these were fought under the leadership of Amit Shah. The result had some impact on his credibility to lead the organization which was at all-time high after winning 72 seats for the party in Uttar Pradesh of the possible 80 and getting full majority in LS with 282 seats. Hence Maharashtra & Haryana polls was an acid test for the partys Modi Wave and a matter of prestige for Amit Shah to cement his position as the Top Leader.

Fake Sympathy

I did explain in one of my previous write up how Shah had asked his party members to target Mumbai and take it from the hands of Shiv Sena. As he who holds the key to rule Mumbai, rules Maharashtra. So the seat sharing meeting were just a façade. They were just looking for an appropriate time to break the alliance, get public sympathy and go alone in the polls with PM Narendra Modi as their star campaigner. There are in total 288 assembly seats in Maharashtra. Now, BJP broke alliance with the Shiv Sena on 25^th of September. 27^th was the last day to fill up the nomination forms of the candidates. If BJP leaders were saying that they tried till the end to reach up for an arrangement and it all happened all of a sudden. Then within a day they got candidates for all 288 seats? Isn’t that a Guiness Book record achievement, incase a criteria is allotted for such event? Every party has to give ‘A’ form & ‘B’ form to its candidates which are to be filled with the election commission in order to be the official party candidate. So if the events happened all of a sudden, in a day the party distributed those forms to all candidates throughout Maharashtra? Immediately after Lok Sabha polls RSS said they won’t participate in state poll campaign for BJP. And suddenly they change their mind to allow their ground force to work for the party. Nothing was all of a sudden. Everything was pre-planned. And on the last day of the campaign, BJP leader confessed that it was none other than Amit Shah who decided to walk away from the alliance in order to become the senior party in the state so that they can stake claim for CM post.

Imported Candidates

Along with lack of ground force, lack of mass leader in the state, BJP also lacked another important thing. Lack of own candidates. It had to import around 60 candidates from other parties, of which 50 were from Congress-NCP itself. The same people whom BJP accused for corruption in the Vidhan Bhawan for the last 15 years were seen sharing dias hand in hand, while the PM of the country campaigning for them. It was to such extent that, one of the candidates was accused and jailed during the Telgi Stamp Paper scam for 2years. But had the Prime Minister, himself, campaigning for him in his constituency. So what change was PM Narendra Modi talking about? By this policy, you can surely change the ruling flag, but unfortunately same people will be running the government again. It’s like Old Wine in Old Bottle.

DayLight Robbery

The alliance formula set by Late Shiv Sena Pramukh Balasaheb Thackeray & Late Pramod Mahajan was BJP will be elder in Centre elections while Shiv Sena will be elder in state. Hence in the past two decades, BJP never fought above 120 assembly seats. So practically, party has become non-existent in more than 150 seats in Maharahtra. It doesn’t has its party machinery nor any ground force in those constituencies. After the demise of Gopinath Munde the party also lacked a face which has a pan Maharashtra appeal. Hence they needed the Prime Minisiter of the country, CMs of other BJP ruled state, entire central Cabinet, all Gujarats MLAs, MPs, Corporators to campaign in Maharashtra. Since they don’t have anyone of their own. Even on the banners only Modi picture was shown to garner votes. Inspite of being in such a weak situation, the party managed to win 122 seats, for me, is more like a Day Light Robbery

Pawar Trouble

NCP leader Sharad Pawar wanted to enter NDA fold in the Lok Sabha polls itself. But Shiv Sena party president Uddhav Thackeray had opposed his inclusion in the alliance. Hence Sharad Pawar had a deal with Narendra Modi that he should not campaign in Baramati. If NCP is able to win 3-4 seats then he will support the NDA proposed legislations in Rajya Sabha as Congress is still in majority in the Upper House. After the Vidhan Sabha preparation began, NCP supremo played another masterstroke. He had talks with a senior BJP leader in Delhi and asked them if you break alliance with Shiv Sena, within hours I will break alliance with the Congress. Even after the VS result were out and BJP came out to be largest party but short of majority, NCP declared unconditional outside support to form the government. Why is NCP always in hurry to be in the ruling corner? If one looks back into the history of Sharad Pawar, there has never been ethical politics. Only ruling politics. His party has been in power since its inception, either in state or country. Even in this polls when NCP was demanding higher seats from Congress, the latter decided to start the probe of Irrigation Scam. Before the CM could give orders, NCP resigned from the government putting it into minority. Later BJP leaders were calling for dissolving the government and applying President Rule in the state to the Governor. Today the NCP says, we respect people’s mandate and they have said BJP should form the government. Hence we are providing the support so the state gets a stable government. So if they were so concerned about the state then why did they resign at first place forcing upon President Rule on us? Sharad Pawar is mainly worried about Amit Shah. When Modi came in power in Gujarat, Shah started moving his pieces and took control of all co-operatives from the Congress. Today in Maharashtra, NCP runs mainly 60% of the co-operatives be it Sugar mills, Banks, Diaries etc. This clout helps the party to earn votes even when facing grave corruption charges. Pawar knows, if his party is not in power it will start breaking up. Plus there are many other financial transactions taking place which needs the shield of power. Hence to keep it together he needs the oxygen of government, be it Centre or state.

Is Corruption really an Issue?

One thing which the Marathi voter proved in this election is corruption can never be a poll plank in the state. Instead of getting angry, people flaunt the figures of corruption by their leaders with pride. When the Adarsh Society scam surfaced, then CM Ashok Chavan was forced to resign from his post. But the same person, won the only Congress seat in Maharashtra, inspite of facing such grave charges. The then Governor Sankarnarayanan, Congress appointed, didn’t allow probe against Chavan in order to assure a smooth victory ride in LS polls. Even his wife Ameeta Chavan who stood in the Vidhan Sabha election also won her Bhokar assembly seat. Take the case of Ajit Pawar. Protagonist in the 70000crore Irrigation Scam in the state.  Did theatrics of resignation, but no one was appointed in his place. After 2months, himself acquitted him and returned to the Dy.CM post again. Abused the people by making urinating in dam comment. And at the end of the day, he won his Baramati seat with maximum margin in the recent elections. Going by these couple of examples, amongst many, it makes me wonder is corruption really a issue. If same people are to appointed again and again then I guess there is no need of electoral process which again spends thousands of crores tax payers money.

Analysis of MNS

MNS saw it’s all time low in the recent state elections. They were reduced to 1 seat, from the 13 won in 2009. Plus the party which was said to have a strong base in Mumbai, Thane, Nashik belt couldn’t get anything from these urban areas. Especially Nashik was the biggest setback for Raj Thackeray which still has a MNS Mayor. But did the party actually deserve this. Were they so bad as an option to be considered by people compared to the anti-incumbent government or for that matter the Hyderabad based MIM, who won 3 seats & whose victory lap had slogans “Bhaag Hindu Aaya Owaisi”. One cannot deny the fact that as on date, after Sharad Pawar, only Raj Thackeray has a pan Maharashtra appeal. A Fire Brand Leader, Class Orator, Popular among all ages. So what went wrong? Did the party didn’t perform at all with their 13 MLAs or did the people vote according to activities happening in the last 3-4 months before elections. First lets see the work done by MNS.

 -Marathi Compulsory

Ever since I started using mobile phone, there were only two languages available for talking to customer executives; English or Hindi. It was after MNS agitation that all mobile phone operators started Marathi as another optional language. Many liberal thinkers called this petty issues. So why aint these queries raised in the states in South Bharat. They holding up on their language is pride, and if Marathi people talk about the same then it is goondagiri. In my visit to some cities in Gujarat, I use to find trouble even in searching for a General Store. Since all the name boards of shops were in their local language. So when the same law is applied here, people make conclusions of dividing the country. All states were formed according to their local languages. So it is the duty of all citizens to respect the local culture. This change was visible in the state only because of the successful MNS agitation.

 -Toll

This has been the most talking point since 2012. But the strange part in it is the entire sections of media have always cross questioned Raj Thackeray but never ever did the question the authorities, or the incumbent government. Even the principal opposition party in the state never paid heed to this issue. It was MNS which unearthed the massive corruption through toll, how people are being fooled and are merely contributing to ruling parties election fund. In all his rallies, Raj Thackeray explained in detail, how the corruption is going on. Not by just flying arrows in the air, but with proper documents from the appropriate authorities taken via RTI. MNS Chief gave many examples of different toll nakas, the number of which are illegal, the ones which have already expired but collection is on. All MNS activist were sitting on the toll nakas day and night to count the number of vehicles which pass through the toll naka’s daily. The party complied all the data in order to get rough idea of the amount of collection which is made daily and how much time will it take to shut down the toll nakas. With all the complied data when MNS approached court, they always postponed the hearings for months together. Court said since the toll collection started more than 10-15 years ago, time limit to file a case against any corruption is 3 years after the date of beginning of collection. Which implies that corruption has no time limit but to voice against it has a time limit. When MNS Chief met the Chief Minister of the state to highlight this issue, he himself confessed being aware of the wrong doings. But replied that being in an alliance it is not possible to take action else the government will go in to minority. After the first state wide agitation when all MNS activist staged rastta roko in various parts of the state, the government sprung into action and ordered closure of 65 toll nakas which were either illegal or which had expired already. As asked by MNS, government also asked all companies to display the details such as Cost of construction, Amount to be collected, Amount collected as on date, Start Date of Collection, End date of Collection etc on the toll nakas. Even as the Lok Sabha polls came near, CM declared another new policy wherein construction on which Rs.10crore or less is spent, toll will not be applicable. MNS has also asked for increase in distance between two toll nakas should be implemented as per the guidelines of NHAI. When a violent agitation took place in Kolhapur, some opposition parties tried to take credit. But point worth noting is those were the local people of who staged the protest and not any political outfits. It was MNS which first brought into people’s notice the corruption behind this type of road tax. And what people did, was ignore it completely by voting against MNS only because media carried a propaganda against them.

 -Pro Modi or Anti Modi

MNS Chief was the first person throughout the country to propose that Narendra Modi should be the PM of our country. His organizational skills, leadership qualities, pride for Gujarati Asmita, and will power to make things possible made him the perfect CM of his state. This was the only reason why Raj Thackeray also praised him during the Lok Sabha campaign. But some people misunderstood it. His support was for the man and not for the party to which he belongs. The country lacked a strong leader under UPA. Hence Modi was a perfect option to replace and fill that vaccum. Also support doesn’t means he became a blind follower of Modi. When things are wrong one should voice concern regarding the same. Certain things which took place post elections were shocking. As soon as Modi government started business, he first scrapped a project which was suppose to come in the Naval land in Mumbai and shifted the same to Porbandar. Even in November 2013 it was MNS who raised the issue for JNPT. Purposely the development of the port was delayed because it’s business was being transferred to Gujarat. During the Vidhan Sabha Campaign, CM of Gujarat came to Mumbai for a function attended by industrialists. There she made her full speech in Gujarati. Now is Gujarati Maharashtra state language or national language? Also in that speech she openly criticized the Infrastructure of Mumbai, where apparently BJP is control of Mumbai Municipal Corporation. She urged all the business community to pack up from Maharashtra and shift your base to Gujarat where we will give you a red carpet welcome. Not even in his single speech did Modi answered about the comments made by his appointed CM. Here BJP is talking creating employment, but the partys boss home state CM was talking about snatching away all the employment opportunities. Complete contradictory campaign was been carried and sad thing is people did vote for them. So when Raj Thackeray raised these issues he was criticized for changing his stand. I failed to understand where did he actually change his stand. He isn’t a blind bhakt of Mr. Modi. He will speak if some thing is happening against the welfare of our state. He was not all wrong in that. It was just the wrong media propaganda, which changed people’s mind who went against MNS.

 -Contesting Election

Raj Thackeray did mention his reason for not contesting the polls. He is a state leader who has state wide appeal. He is not restricted to any particular constituency. One needs to understand that he is single handedly managing the affairs of the party. He has to draft the agenda, the policies, to head the campaign. He had to tour the entire state as MNS was contesting in over 230 seats. In such case it was never possible for him to concentrate on one constituency. He also faced dilemma in choice of constituency. If he selects A, then what B has did wrong to ignore them.

 -Performance of MNS 13 MLAs

People completed ignored all the statistics which spoke in volume about the performance of MNS in Vidhan Bhawan. In the entire 5 years tenure, MNS legislators raised over 6600 questions in the assembly, highest by any party. MNS ranked 2^nd when it came to proposing new legislations for the welfare of the state. MNS MLA from Sewree, Bala Nandgaonkar was ranked among the top performing MLA in the last concluded assembly.  And yet people ignored each and everyone of them in the recent elections. If Ajit Pawar can win the polls even after being named in the Irrigation Scam, then why couldn’t all clean image, performing MLAs win in the elections.

 -Performance of MNS as organization

MNS karyakartas where among the highest number who faced police lathi charge due to agitation they participated in. MNS was active against the anti-incumbent state government more than the principal opposition parties. It was MNS who was on road when police and media was attacked by Raza Academy Morcha people. Raj Thackeray, in all his speeches during the state wide tour in 2013 spoke in depth about the multi crore Irritgation scam, with all documents and proof. He brought in front of the people the methods in which money was being utilized for sponsoring their electoral campaigns. No other party explained these issues with such details and by giving examples of projects. MNS provided food for all the boys who came to Mumbai for getting a police job, since some boys died during those tests due to lack of food and water. Even the police department thanked the party for providing assistance. Party also supplied water, fodder in draught effected areas. It instilled the Marathi pride in today’s youth which was fading away.

And yet MNS was rejected completely by people to such extent that the party might be de-recognised by Election Commission as a state party and also might lose its election symbol Railway Engine, both of which it achieved in its very first elections in 2009. Results were indeed sad, but now is not the time fir crying over it. It is time for thorough introspection and complete rejuvenation of the party. MNS has it’s ground force, local leaders and a charismatic party chief.

Now that BJP is set to form new government with either Shiv Sena or NCP. All I can hope is we might find some change in the state. If it doesn’t perform MNS is there to keep a check on them even if the party has one MLA.

-SR

Dear Rajsaheb Thackeray

Respected MNS President Rajsaheb Thackeray,

Warm Greetings and a very Happy Diwali.

Vidhan Sabha results were declared on Sunday. As you are well aware of, our party was totally decimated in terms of number of seats as well as our vote share. It hurts more when a Hyderabad based party comes and wins more seats than us.

Sir, the only reason I started following MNS since its inception was your perspective. To explain in Hindi,  Aap Lambi Race ka Ghoda ho. Your political acumen, decision making pattern, quality of judging the ever changing political scenario is something which our state politics doesn't produce anymore. In the Narendra Modi dominated Lok Sabha polls, even by contesting 10 seats half heartedly, as you confessed, you were 6th or 7th in maximum media coverage throughout the country. This, without any media advisers or paid media theatrics. Speaks in volume of your charismatic personality. A person who is well versed with the past and has built a vision, brick by brick, from those experiences for a better future. Practically, no one did put forth such a massive document in the recent elections or in Independent Bharat politics like our Blueprint. It's just that, we were not successful in selling our dream. Sir, I am completely a novice to give you lessons on politics. But as a follower I just wanted to make these few things heard.

Point 1:
I remember in one of the Karyakartas Melawa in your brief speech you had said to all leaders, "Perform or Perish. Team B is ready to takeover." Sir this is the golden opportunity we have been granted by the people. In Bharat, there are few basic requirements of a political establishment: Charismatic Leader, Better Vision for the future and Ground force. As on today, we have fulfilled all these criteria. Now lets take the next step & strengthen our organisation roots.

Point 2:
After back to back defeats, some heads must roll. We lost our ground touch, which had a negative impact on our image. President's interaction with the party, without media around, has to increase. Sir, your presence, few exchange of words can boost up the morale of cadre. And I can vouch for maximum number of our Karyakartas. Your speeches aint just guidelines but act as power thruster. Sir, we missed your presence around. Your word is the command of the entire cadre. But it was coming after long time gaps. It is time fill in that gap.

Point 3:
Something which was seen in many of our previous constituencies was, our MLAs were undertaking work without taking people into confidence. Change is the need of the hour, but we just can't impose it on people. One angry voter expresses his/her anger towards our party to many others. We need to take all concerned parties into confidence before going ahead with implementation of projects. It is not possible to get 100% consensus, but the positives has to be on the higher side.

Point 4:
The most important thing today, where our party lost ground was lack of active IT team. Our party needs to be active on social media as that is one of powerful source to put our views in front of people. Agree, it has its own disadvantages. But we cant deny the fact that it is the future. BJP was able to capture that space. To some extent, even AAP was successful in getting their views trend during Delhi assembly elections. With an influential leader, like you sir, we can easily create a space for our party which is necessary to attract the fresh voters which are today increasing in numbers as well as they are the future of country.

Point 5:
Appointed party leaders holding various posts like the Branch heads, Area heads, District heads must be compelled to submit monthly or quarterly report detailing the works done by them on behalf of the party. It should be implemented in Down to Up pattern. Branch head will submit to Area head. Area head will submit his/ her own report as well as Branch Heads report to District head. Each district heads can send one consolidated report to RajGad, our party HQ, for review by senoir leaders & party president. This will help to strengthen the organization. Surprise visits by senoir leaders can be conducted to ensure proper functioning of the party machinery.

Point 6:
Indirectly, we must activate MNVS in active politics. We knew Raj Thackeray, because of your work when you were at the helm of Vidyarthi Sena during Shiv Sena days. Similarly we must make our young generation popular on their own credit. Frequent visits in constituencies even on general days might help them create their own image. The more independently they start handling the affairs of MNVS, more deep we root our party in our state.

Point 7:
Second in command leaders must be compelled to conduct campaigns on their own. This will increase our reach to voters, specially during election time when there is time shortage. It will also ease out dome pressure from your shoulders. As the number of visits of other leaders will increase their popularity will begin to rise. Dividend can be reaped during election season.

Point 8:
We need to implement some parts from our Blueprint. We have mentioned about election within the party. This is the appropriate time to go ahead with it. I remember you said in one rally, "Opposition party never wins, ruling party loses." Hence we should not wait for some wrong doing of current government. Instead we should start taking our agenda to people, leaving the criticise ruling party part aside. Let people judge our genuineness. Once they realise & understand our honest intention, no force can stop us.

Point 9:
The one thing which had a huge negative impact on the confidence of people in us was our constant change in stands. With main stream media, parallel media, social media all on highly active mode, nothing fades away. All comments stay in the tube. Few things among them were, as you are aware of it sir, supporting and then criticising Modi & youself backing out from not contesting polls. I am completely aware of the ground reality for those decisions. But we failed to convince our voters. Hence they couldn't judge our motive behind those decisions. That communication gap led us to our downfall in this election. We need to reach out to people again to explain our point of view.

So lets come together once again in our mission to create Maharashtra,  the world will envy of. Let us together strengthen our strong points, implement some new techniques, keep our party in active mode, constantly. With this, we will be able to make our voice heard. We will be able to win back the lost ground. We will be able to win back voters confidence. Yes, It is Possible.

At the end I would like to quote few lines from a poem:

"From the ashes, a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring.
Renewed shall be the blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be King."

- A Rajsaheb Thackeray & MNS Supporter.

Smarak Traasdayak

It was in 2012 when there was a regime change in UP. The Yadav's of SP replaced the Mayawati of BSP. And immediately a scam of previous government surfaced. In her regime, Mayawati had erected 130 statues of huge elephants (her party symbol) in parts of Noida & Lucknow. Subsequent police raids which followed revealed that the corrupt officials had overpaid the contractors to build these statues. Sub-standard material was used & the statue that should have cost Rs.5 lakhs were bought by state run agency for Rs.60 lakhs each.
Also not to forget here, the other statues she built of herself & her ideological mentor Kanshi Ram across the state.

During the recently concluded Lok Sabha election,  the current Prime Minister then BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi had said during their poll campaign that he will erect a huge statue of Sardar Vallabhai Patel and name it as Statue of Unity. It will be world's tallest statue with a height of 182 meters and will be constructed on the Sardar Sarovar Dam. Modi had also started a campaign to collect iron from people throughout the country, bringing back the memories of collection of bricks asked by LK Advani in 1991 during the Ayodhya Ram Janmabhoomi Movement.

If BJP is playing the statue card then how can the Gandhi family led Congress stay behind. The architects of the Rs.70000crore Irrigation scam by the Congress-NCP government in Maharashtra declared that it is also going to build a 312 feet high statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in the Arabian Sea near Mumbai. The government also released Rs.100crores as advance money for the construction, which is nowhere to be seen. And with the regime change in Delhi & also eminent in Maharashtra that entire advance money goes in the politicians pockets to sponsor their electoral campaigns, which is apparently the tax payers hard earned money.

Nehru-Gandhi Family Memorials
The memorials of this one family only in Delhi are spread over 120 acres. Their heir's talk about 'Garibi Hatao' slogans or promises to provide houses to poor. Then why so much of area is blocked in their own names. Add to it the maintenance cost. Is it borne by the family or their party? Or again taxpayer? This is also not enough. There is politics over whose memorial should be here and not be. They also prepare a list of exceptions. Former PM PV Narsimharao was not allowed to be cremated in Delhi for only reason that he will also have to be allotted space in the Zone of Dead.

Is all this necessary?
The main intention of a memorial is to protect the legacy of that great person. To display her/his lifes' work, struggles, victories which shall be inspiring for the coming generations. So many statues are built of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj or Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar across the country; are they maintained properly? Except their Jayanti Divas, they are left to nature for rest of the year.

These all are stunts made only to earn political mileage. Some political parties in the country have to gone to such extent that they have distributed our national heroes according to caste. For example, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj of Marathas, Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar of Dalits etc.

The party or alliance which is in power when hit by corruption scandals in their tenure, this is the only way left to ask for votes. Make speeches about the heroes, play with the emotions of the people by showing an artistic impression of some upcoming statue and comparison of the same with some renowned statue in the world. So that people will forget all the scams and again vote them to power.

Does these statues do any good to improve the lives of common man? Is there any change in our lifestyle by construction of a new statue in our locality? Are these statues holding some magic wand which will give us potholes free roads or does the sword in the statue will stop the terrorists which once entered in the city through water?

Lets take the example of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue in Arabian Sea. It's initial price, when it was proposed for the first time in 2004 by the Congress-NCP alliance in their manifesto was Rs.100crores. By the time next term was due, cost went to Rs.350 crores. During the LS elections of  2014 the cost crossed 4 figure mark with it's initial proposed price, Rs.100crores, released as advance. And not to forget, every penny will be from the taxpayers fund. Even after contributing so much, the same taxpayer will have to purchase tickets in order to visit the same in future.

Solutions
As an election appeasement policy, the Congress government declared the land of Indu Mill located in Dadar to be utilised to build a memorial of Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar. The Dalit political parties were trying to earn brownie points but none of them had a proper visionon what type of memorial should be built. MNS Chief Raj Thackeray had suggested to build a world's largest library in the alloted space. Dr.Babasaheb Ambedkar spent his entire life preaching everyone to learn and educate ourselves. This library will help to protect the legacy of that great man. Solutions to these memorial politics are very simple if only one starts looking beyond votebank politics.

The same theory can be applied in case of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. If the government is willing to spend thousands of crores for making a statue in the water; then why not, instead of a statue, spend only half of that money to clean and maintain the 350 forts of Shivaji Maharaj. That is the true legacy of the great Maratha warrior. Not only will that keep his legacy alive, it will also keep on motivating the coming generations. Instead of a statue these forts will tell more about the history and glory of the great man and it will also attract tourists from all over the world.

Another example of our soldiers. No matter how many jawans die in the battlefield for the safety of our motherland. For them there is only one single Amar Jyot. We couldn't even build a war memorial commemorating the great services of our brave soldiers who are the real heroes. But politicians have acres of lands even if they didn't hold any constitutional posts or worked for mererly few years.

Except Rajghat, all other memorials should be removed and the place should be made available for public use. Every city has a municipality which builds gardens or joggers park. Why not name them after the deceased politicians. One can also build photo gallery within it which will depict the life story of that great leader.

Things are possible only if we show the will power to change it. When our current leaders will start thinking beyond petty politics that will be the government which will truely be of & for the people.

-SR.

The Fake Smile

Independent was she once, fear of nobody
Lives in bondage today, taking commands from everybody.

Sits and cries all alone, wondering why
With a broken heart, she lets each day pass by.

Happiness was once an ordinary feeling,
Time has taken it's toll, today, left her bleeding.

Fought against the world for her present,
Only to find herself isolated in torment.

She misses those small things from their best years,
Things that made them strong & moments which were forever to cheer.

Women within her wants to break free,
Mother & Wife, though, don't seem to agree.

But her love never faded, even in the storm
As real love always finds it's way around.

So to live in the dark, until it's dawn,
Her mantra for life is:
Head Up-Stay Strong-Fake A Smile-Move On.



-SR.

BJP betrays MNS

BJP has decided to part ways with MNS for the upcoming Mayor elections of the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) as the term of current Mayor Yatin Wagh (MNS) comes to an end. The reason for snapping ties, among others, is BJP claiming that the MNS did not give, as promised, the chairmanship of the all powerful Standing Committee which is responsible for the financial transactions of the civic body. They have decided to support the nomination of Shiv Sena candidate in order to please their alliance partner ahead of Vidhan Sabha polls slated for next month. Another setback which MNS received was 2 corporators of the party have decided to switch their loyalty to Shiv Sena.

The MNS-BJP alliance was formed in February 2012 after the election results were declared. MNS, under the strong leadership of Raj Thackeray, won 40 seats in the 122 member NMC to become the single largest party. Whereas Shiv Sena-BJP, who fought together, won 19 & 14 seats respectively. The Congress-NCP combine won 35 seats, thus leaving no party or alliance attaining the magical figure of 62.

BJP has decided not leave any stone unturned before the Model Code of Coduct kicks off for Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha elections. Inspite of fighting election together with Shiv Sena in 2012, BJP decided to support MNS then, as Raj Thackeray was in the good books of Nitin Gadkari. Also Raj was invited by then CM of Gujarat Narendra Modi for his swearing ceremony in 2011. BJP was then exploring partners other than Shiv Sena in the state in order to gain a upper hand.

However lot of things have changed since the death of senoir BJP leader Gopinath Munde. Earlier there were two teams in the state BJP, one led by Munde and other by Gadkari. But now the new central leadership of the party under the command of Amit Shah has given clear instructions that word of state party unit head Devendra Fadnavis will be final and everyone has to fall in line, indirectly hinting towards Team Gadkari. Snapping ties with MNS is checkmate to Gadkari-Raj friendship.

But for MNS, it will further add to their misery of LS results. The party was completely routed, with 9 out 10 of it's candidates losing their deposits. The voteshare of MNS also came down from 4.06% in 2009 to 1.5% in 2014. The only shining star on the partys CV was the Mayor post of Nashik. Now that too seems to be fading away.

Many reasons seem to be responsible for the current state of the party. During the LS polls, Raj was in two minds till March whether to contest or not. After meeting with Nitin Gadkari who asked him not to contest in the election, Raj has always changed his stand by each passing day creating confusion among the party cadre.

When the party finally decided to contest, the candidates selected were all weak and had no mass reach in their respective constituencies. Plus there was no official party manifesto for the elections. Raj Thackeray himself addressed 35-40 rallies, but all of them were not matching to his own level of oratory. Though the party could strike alliance with the PWP, it didn't bear any fruits.

After the LS defeat, Raj addressed a massive rally in Mumbai and declared that he will be contesting the upcoming state polls and if mandate is provided will lead the party as its CM candidate. It boosted the morale of the party karyakartas. However in a recent press conference in August he backed off from that decision. During LS campaigns in April, on a TV interview, he said the blueprint for the state will be out in August. But till date the same is not released as he keeps on posponing it's release date.

Recently a leader from the transport wing of the party had alleged that Raj Thackeray has time to play with his dogs but not to meet the party karyakartas. MNS, like the ShivSena or CPI, is a cadre based party. They are the whole and soul of the organization. And by ignoring them, Raj is sending a wrong message to the partys rank and file.

Also the party has not been able to create second rung leaders. It is completely dependent on Raj Thackeray. This creates a leadership vacuum due to which other leaders are not able to attract crowds for their rallies.

Though all the above reasons may be valid, one cannot write off MNS completely. The party in power today in Lok Sabha with 282 seats was at 2 in 1984. Under the leadership of Advani then Vajpayee and now Modi the party is rejuvenated. After a massive anti Congress(I) wave of 1977, Indira Gandhi brought the party back to power in 1980. Political scenario in state till June 2013 was not BJP friendly. After the elevation of Narendra Modi as Campaign Chief and then the PM candidate of BJP led NDA, a massive wave was created throughout the nation.

Raj Thackeray has himself been in politics for over two decades. Patience is virtue, which is needed to survive in politics, he has in plenty. Like LS, he is aware, in the Vidhan Sabha polls too BJP will have major say. Hence all masterstrokes will turn out to be failure.

BJP feels they did the right thing today by breaking the alliance but only time will tell its impact. MNS chief reaction on this will be worth watching. But right now he needs to start a No Holds Barred campaign in the state to give his party a breathing space.

PS: In order to avoid any further poaching, MNS has sent it's 38 corporators to Rajasthan. Similarly, NCP has also sent their bunch to Lonavla.

-SR.

एक मिठी प्रेमाची

तिचा जन्म होताच सगळेच चेहरे काही आनंदित होत नाही
भूरसटलेले विचार असणारे, त्या गोजीर्वाण्याला तिच्या पहिल्या क्षणातच कोसतात |

जन्माला आलेल्या मुलाचं कोड कौतुक करताना शब्द अपुरे पडतात,
परंतु मुलीचा मात्र त्याच क्षणी जगाशी युद्ध आरंभ होते |

भातुकलीचा खेळ खेळत बालपण सरतं,
अनेकांचा राग द्वेष सोसत, आयुष जगण्यामधे ती मग्न होते |

मौज करण्यासाठी मुलांना काही बंधन नसतं,
पण तिच्या पायात मात्र परंपरेच्या बेड्या कायम ठोठावल्या जातात |

येणारा प्रत्येक व्यक्ती आपले विचार तिच्यावर लादत असतो,
तिच्या आतल्या मी पणाला जणू प्रत्येक जन ठेचत जातो |

मुलगी म्हणून आई वडिलांचा,
बायको म्हणून नवर्याचा आणि,
आई म्हणून स्वताच्या मुलांच,
या सर्वांचे मनं जपेस्तोर तिचं उभं आयुष निगुन जातं |

कौतुक तर दूरच, नुसतं जान देखील ठेवण्यास
या तीनही पिड्या विसरून जातात |

सगळ्यांच्या आनंदात ती रमते, सर्वांना दुखात ती सावरते,
पण तिच्या भावना मात्र कायम सगळेच गृहीत धरतात |

आरश्यात पाहून कधी तरी गुपचूप हस्ते,
रात्रीच्या काळोखात कोपर्यातच ती रडते,
तिचा आयुष हे कायमचं,
तारेवरचं कसरत होऊन बसते |

नाही कपडा लत्याची, कि दाग दागिन्याची,
याची तिला कधी हि हाव नसते |

कायमच ज्याची ती वाट पाहते,
ते दोन शब्द आदराचे आणि एक मिठी प्रेमाची |




- एसआर