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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 4:59:11 pm

Marathwada on boil

Mumbai: Emboldened by his fiery stance, local coordination committees issued an ultimatum to the administration, declaring a complete Marathwada Bandh for Thursday, with voluntary shut-downs already paralyzing towns across Latur, Nanded, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. While essential services are expected to function, wholesale agricultural markets, commercial centres, government establishments, and educational institutions face forced closures. In dozens of ham-lets across Marathwada,...

Marathwada on boil

Mumbai: Emboldened by his fiery stance, local coordination committees issued an ultimatum to the administration, declaring a complete Marathwada Bandh for Thursday, with voluntary shut-downs already paralyzing towns across Latur, Nanded, and Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. While essential services are expected to function, wholesale agricultural markets, commercial centres, government establishments, and educational institutions face forced closures. In dozens of ham-lets across Marathwada, villagers erected banners banning politicians from entering, declaring a complete boycott of elected leaders until statutory reservation is codified. Faced with escalating turmoil, the state machinery initiated high-level consultations to defuse the standoff. The Cabinet sub-committee on Maratha reservation met in Mumbai before key minis-ters travelled to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, attempting to open negotiation channels with Antarwali Sarati. Administrative emissaries and local legislators were sent to the protest site to persuade Jarange to accept medical aid, assuring him that administrative hurdles were being dismantled. Speaking to reporters, Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, Chairman of the Cabinet sub-committee, em-phasized that the administration was actively awaiting a breakthrough. “We are waiting for their response. We shall immediately go to Antarwali Sarati if they indicate possibility of discussion over the draft,” he said. The minister further explained that as per demands the authorities had already furnished a pen drive containing 58 lakh Kunbi caste records to the agitators, noting that the procedure to grant certificates based on the historical Hyderabad Gazetteer has com-menced, with 3,300 certificates already distributed. Vikhe-Patil also gave assurances that dedi-cated divisional camps would soon be set up across Maharashtra to expedite all pending applica-tions. Simultaneously, the Chief Minister reiterated the state’s commitment to an equitable resolution while appealing for restraint. “We appeal to Manoj Jarange Patil to prioritize his health and coop-erate with medical teams. Street violence and blocking highways will only cause hardship to or-dinary citizens, farmers, and students. Dialogue remains the only viable path to an enduring solu-tion,” he said. Despite these administrative assurances, the rift between the agitators’ demand for an immedi-ate blanket notification and the government’s procedural constraints remains wide. With youth staging relay fasts outside district collectorates and activists threatening an en masse march to Mumbai, Maharashtra stands on a delicate precipice as law enforcement braces for Thursday’s region-wide shutdown. Addressing the swelling crowds at his protest marquee on Wednesday afternoon, Jarange issued an unsparing warning to the government. “The government has tested our patience enough. We are not sitting here to beg for char-ity; we are demanding our constitutional right that was denied for generations,” Jarange told the gathering. “If a sin-gle drop of blood is spilt or if anything happens to my life, the government alone will bear the responsibility for the fury that follows across Maharashtra. We will not take a single step backward until the notification is in our hands.”

Clever seat selection helped BJP to secure historic win

The party won 65 seats against Congress, 37 against NCP (SP) and 29 against Shiv Sena (UBT)

Clever seat selection

Mumbai: The BJP’s strategic seat sharing with the allies has proved beneficial for the party. An analysis of the Assembly election results show that the BJP has scored over its main rival, the Congress, in a big way because of the direct fights.


The analysis shows that BJP defeated all three constituents of the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) – Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT) and NCP (SP) – in the direct fights. This is attributed as one of the reasons for the BJP’s historic poll success.


The BJP contested 147 out of 288 seats. In 76 constituencies, it faced Congress. BJP secured victory in 65 seats and lost only 11 seats, making it a whopping 86 per cent of the total direct fights. This was followed by an even stronger performance against NCP (SP). Of the total 39 fights with Sharad Pawar’s party, BJP captured 37 seats making it 95 per cent of the total fights with NCP (SP). BJP and Shiv Sena (UBT) were head-to-head in 32 constituencies, of which BJP emerged victorious in 29 seats, making this 91 per cent of the total direct contests.


According to a BJP strategist the party had bargained hard with its allies, Shiv Sena and NCP to get the desired constituencies in the seat sharing formula. “We had studied to potential candidates of the MVA. That helped us in choosing the seats where we can register comfortable victories,” the strategist said.


BJP spokesperson Niranjan Shetty attributed the success to all the party workers who worked hard to boost development, infrastructure in the state. He gave credit to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for his contribution to the party’s success.


Shetty pointed out that in 2019, Uddhav Thackeray had stalled all the “novel” and “legendary” projects that Fadnavis had started when he had taken over as CM, making it very easy for the people of Maharashtra to strike a comparison between both the leaders and the potential they had for serving the people. “Devendra Fadnavis gave up his post very easily for the larger good. There are many such examples like Venkaiah Naidu who was BJP National President and later worked as the Vice President of India because that was the need of the hour. We seldom care about our posts,” Shetty told The Perfect Voice.


Congress spokesperson Atul Londhe refused to call the election results as the people’s mandate. “This is not at all a Janata mandate. Despite Maharashtra struggling with so many basic social issues, how can BJP acquire such a huge mandate is the question. If a student copies and fails with just passing marks, it can go unnoticed, but if a student copies and bags the number one position, something is fishy. Why is the BJP scared of ballot papers?” he said.

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