The break dance of democracy
27 Sep 2014 12:35 AM GMT
The grand alliances are finally coming to an end. If after 25 years BJP and Shiv Sena have decided to go their separate ways on one hand in Maharashtra, Congress and NCP too have ended their marriage which began 15 years ago. These could be the biggest political shockers this year and the results of these divorces are bound to have their impact on the Maharashtra assembly elections scheduled for 15 October, barely 19 days away from now.
However, the question that needs to be asked today is; Has the era of coalition politics come to an end in 2014? It seems it has. After Prime minister Narendra Modi, ably supported by man-in-charge Amit Shah and the entire BJP bandwagon of politicians was elected to power on 16 May this year, there were a lot of reasons for BJP to cheer. One of them certainly was that for the first time in 30 years had an electorate given such a stupendous verdict that a single largest party had emerged as the kingmaker at the centre. That was the end of the 10 year rule of the UPA government, which certainly was nothing more than an imperfect relationship of negotiations, often to the extent that a lot of political misgivings had to be conveniently swept under the carpet.
The current scenario in Maharashtra is no different. The Congress- NCP war of words was so severe, that the imminent exigency of the government falling apart was always looming large. Nobody can possibly deny that the Ashok Chavan led Congress NCP government was more a scrapbook of massive corruption than a hallmark of good governance. Even after he was so unceremoniously removed, the Congress decided to put in place Prithviraj Chavan, someone who in spite of being a Marathi politician had more famously spent most of his time in and around North Block. not The unending insinuations of Ajit Pawar, the deputy CM from NCP, can hardly be forgotten too. On the other side of political quagmires, BJP, is of course still buoyed by the Modi wave and has thus decided to go solo in a state where it has desperately been trying to win for the past 15 years.
Another reason could be that BJP was trying to disassociate itself from the Sena’s firebrand style of politics especially after the PM called for a 10 year moratorium on any kind of communal cataclysm whatsoever. Not that BJP’s own track record is any good especially after its love jihad rhetoric in recent times and the Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur riots, where it was directly involved. But in such constrictions a split was perhaps imminent and it indeed has happened. People of Maharashtra have got a once in a lifetime opportunity to vote for the good and elect a government which can seriously deliver. They mustn’t waste the chance now.
However, the question that needs to be asked today is; Has the era of coalition politics come to an end in 2014? It seems it has. After Prime minister Narendra Modi, ably supported by man-in-charge Amit Shah and the entire BJP bandwagon of politicians was elected to power on 16 May this year, there were a lot of reasons for BJP to cheer. One of them certainly was that for the first time in 30 years had an electorate given such a stupendous verdict that a single largest party had emerged as the kingmaker at the centre. That was the end of the 10 year rule of the UPA government, which certainly was nothing more than an imperfect relationship of negotiations, often to the extent that a lot of political misgivings had to be conveniently swept under the carpet.
The current scenario in Maharashtra is no different. The Congress- NCP war of words was so severe, that the imminent exigency of the government falling apart was always looming large. Nobody can possibly deny that the Ashok Chavan led Congress NCP government was more a scrapbook of massive corruption than a hallmark of good governance. Even after he was so unceremoniously removed, the Congress decided to put in place Prithviraj Chavan, someone who in spite of being a Marathi politician had more famously spent most of his time in and around North Block. not The unending insinuations of Ajit Pawar, the deputy CM from NCP, can hardly be forgotten too. On the other side of political quagmires, BJP, is of course still buoyed by the Modi wave and has thus decided to go solo in a state where it has desperately been trying to win for the past 15 years.
Another reason could be that BJP was trying to disassociate itself from the Sena’s firebrand style of politics especially after the PM called for a 10 year moratorium on any kind of communal cataclysm whatsoever. Not that BJP’s own track record is any good especially after its love jihad rhetoric in recent times and the Muzaffarnagar and Saharanpur riots, where it was directly involved. But in such constrictions a split was perhaps imminent and it indeed has happened. People of Maharashtra have got a once in a lifetime opportunity to vote for the good and elect a government which can seriously deliver. They mustn’t waste the chance now.
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