With battlelines drawn between the two major political formations ? the ruling Congress-NCP and the Opposition Shiv Sena-BJP ? in Maharashtra for the Assembly elections scheduled on October 13, their manifestos reveal their priorities. While the Congress-NCP has attempted to project its ?secular? face and also pander to ?Marathi pride? at the same time, the Sena-BJP combine has steamed ahead on its ?sons of the soil? agenda. Significantl, it has promised the introduction of a permit system to curb influx of migrants into Mumbai.
The main reason for the note of desperation in the Sena-BJP alliance is its debacle in the state in the recent Lok Sabha elections, largely because candidates of Raj Thackeray?s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) ate into its votebank. At least six Congress candidates and three NCP candidates owed their victory in the Lok Sabha polls to the MNS. It was the first Assembly election in which the Sena lost its monopoly over the ?Marathi? and ?sons of the soil? issues because of the MNS hijacking its agenda.
Hence, it is no wonder that the Sena-BJP alliance is desperate to reclaim its mantle of the ?messiah of the locals?. Its resolve on the issue includes: creation of a permanent system to stop the influx into Mumbai to reduce the burden on civic amenities; strict implementation of the policy of 80% jobs for locals; permission for students to answer competitive examinations in Marathi, apart from English and Hindi; and increase in the use of Marathi as the official language from 50% to 100%.
Interestingly, the MNS is yet to declare its manifesto, but Raj Thackeray has unequivocally declared that he is in favour of a permit system not only for Mumbai, but for the whole of Maharashtra.
Preference to locals in recruitment has been an old policy . But it is just a directive to employers, and not enforceable in a court of law. The Maharashtra government has issued GRs (government resolutions) that 80% of vacancies be preferably filled with local people, on six occasions ? on November 5, 1968, on August 25, 1970, on February 13, 1973, June 2, 2005, March 30, 2007, November 17, 2008. The frequency is directly proportional to the number of times the issue was raked up by the Sena, prompting the ruling parties to show that they, too, care for the locals.
For the Assembly elections, the ruling Congress-NCP alliance had to walk a tight rope as it could not go all out for the Marathi votebank for fear of losing non-Maharashtrian votes. It is silent on the proposed permit system, has promised to implement a ?Marathi fortnight?, appoint a legislature panel for promoting use of Marathi in administrative work and develop forts.
The other issues
Congress-NCP: Power cuts to go by 2012; subsidised foodgrain for Rs 3 per kilo for poor; loans for farmers at 3% interest; free education for girls upto graduation; depositing money in the name of a new-born girl at birth so that she gets Rs 1.25 lakh on attaining 18 years of age; 50% quota for women in panchayats
Shiv Sena-BJP: Affordable power; freezing prices of wheat, rice, dal, edible oil and sugar; loans for farmers at 4% interest; free education for girls upto Class X; depositing money in girl?s name at birth so she gets Rs 1 lakh as adult.