Maharashtra chief minister is a mirage

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: It was much like an absurd comic strip, the combine or new anti-Sonia front led by George Fernandes along with Jaya Jaitly, Subramanian Swamy and Chandrashekhar as office bearers, all of whom are of no consequence on the national arena, except as has-been ‘leaders’ with a one point agenda, Sonia-baiting. It was pitiable to see them and read what they had to say. Old hat and stagnant sloganeering completely out of sync with the new demands, aspirations and priorities. Small wonder then that they are becoming insignificant and irrelevant.

Juxtaposed to that political charade was the complete lack of assessment about the whys and wherefores of the BJP debacle in the Uttar Pradesh by-elections and their defeat elsewhere in the country. Something has radically gone wrong. The post Venkaiah Naidu rhetoric is as confused and banal as it has been for months. How come there is never a ‘Big Fight’ or a ‘We the People’ on how the BJP/NDA has been crippled over the last six months?

If the Congress had suffered this kind of a body blow, all manner of analysis, comments, however superficial, would have been coming at us from all sides. The Congress and others need to learn a great deal from the BJP and its allies about how to manage the press and public relations, something the BJP continues to be successful at even when out of power. The Congress continues to be addressed by those who communicate, with sarcasm. Maybe they are doing it right by ignoring the press and their baiting, treating them as inconsequential.

As this column goes to press, the CM of Maharashtra is a mirage. The most plausible explanation for the delay that is doing the rounds is that Sharad Pawar was offered the chief ministership but refused. He preferred to stay at the Centre and instead, bargain for some key cabinet posts! His nephew is not acceptable to the Mohite faction of the NCP and there is disagreement within that party as to who if not Sharad Pawar. The Congress would, in this situation, want to call the shots and push for their candidate. And quite rightly too. Rumour has it that in this stalemate, a deal has been structured where Mr Shinde will be CM for two years and thereafter the nephew will take over! Two years is a long time and who knows where political play in India will be 24 months down the road. This time, Sonia Gandhi, who was politically savvy in handing the CMs chair after the Kashmir elections to Mufti Moha-mmed, is being as savvy demanding her pound of flesh in Maharashtra, by offering the chair to Sharad Pawar with Shinde as the next choice. And, boy, she is far more savvy than George Fernandes, addressing real issues rather than petty nonsense.

In five years, the other side of the coin should have a working delivery system. That is the real challenge confronting Montek Singh in the Planning Commission, and the UPA coalition. And, if Montek Singh can rope in the private sector to contribute to the process, the gaping gaps could soon come together and converge. If only the Left were willing to foresee the excitement of that challenge! Alas, they too seem stuck in a time warp, unable to restructure their ideology and methodology to release India from the horrors of poverty.