Chavan exits…& saffron games continue

Fear, they say, is the key…. to a victory among other things and the ruling BJP at the Centre and in Maharashtra seems to be making the best of fear to ensure that its powerful rivals throw in the towel and join its ranks as the Lok Sabha polls draw near.

The latest addition to the BJP’s long list of conquests is former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, son of late Shankarrao Chavan, who was Union Home Minister.

The exit of the Nanded politician, who hails from an influential political family, is a big blow to the Congress for he was a Congress Working Committee (CWC) member and had also headed the Maharashtra unit of the Congress besides serving as MP.

Many reasons are being cited for Chavan’s exit from the party where he had functioned for decades and the most convincing of them seems to be the fact that he is facing at least three cases - one pertaining to a land grab in Yavatmal district and the other two linked to the Adarsh Cooperative Housing Society allotment allegations.

The cases have been filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and the much feared Enforcement Directorate (ED). It is the Adarsh case pertaining to alleged corruption in allotments in a housing society mean to benefit war widows, which took the sheen off Chavan’s promising political career; he even had to step down as CM following the allegations.

He however continued to be one of the top ranking leaders of the Maharashtra Congress though his rift with fellow Congressmen and reports of him being sidelined in party affairs had made the rounds in recent months.

What is however disturbing is the tendency of those in power at the Centre to target their political opponents using the long arm of the law.

Interestingly, there was a mention of the Adarsh Society allegations in the White Paper brought out recently by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to highlight the state of the economy, which blamed the Congress led UPA governments before 2014 for the economic woes the country faced.

The question which begs asking is whether this ‘mention’ had something to do with Chavan’s abrupt exit from the Congress?

Several AAP leaders have been heard lamenting that there was ‘pressure’ from the BJP to buckle in and join the saffron ranks or face corruption cases.

And there are leaders who have decided that enough was enough and joined the BJP or at least aligned with it, who reportedly include Narayan Rane, Himanta Biswas Sarma, Ajit Pawar and the like.

As the polls approach, one can be sure that the line of those waiting to enter through the saffron doors will grow longer.

History has proven more than once that it is when political parties sense the ground slipping from under their feet that they resort to browbeating their rivals to make sure they cringe in fear and disappear from the political horizon.

Interestingly, Maharashtra with as many as 48 Lok Sabha seats, was one of the few states which according to recent opinion polls, was supposed to see an upswing in the fortunes of the newly formed INDIA bloc of Opposition parties.

Probably unnerved by these reports, the BJP seems to have set its eyes on luring powerful politicians of the state and who better than Chavan, a popular Maratha face whose exit is sure to hit the Congress hard?

It however remains to be seen if the proud and politically enlightened electorate of Maharashtra will see things the BJP wants them to after the humiliating manner in which Uddhav Thackeray was eased out of the CM’s chair a year and a half ago and how Maratha icon Sharad Pawar is being increasingly driven into a lonely corner in national politics.