MAHARASHTRIAN IMPLOSION
In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy’s country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.
Sun Tzu – Art of War
In recent times if one had to call out one of the better student and follower of the Chinese Philosopher & Military Strategist – Sun Tzu then I have no doubt it has to be Shri Eknath Shinde.
The suddenness of the move, without an iota of leak in the media is something that still baffles most of us. I mean to only hear about this after more than thirty legislatures reached Surat, is mind boggling. On the one hand it shows their level of disenchantment with the state leadership and on the other hand the play of ‘A Third Party’ in bankrolling such a dissent. Chaperoning the disgruntled / managed legislators from one BJP ruled state to another.
However much the leader of the break-away section of the Shiv Sena espouse the cause of Hindutva for this implosion, I believe it was made possible by the application of the right amount of lubrication to make this friction bearable & possible.
However if one has to look back, this isn’t a one off case. There have been previous examples too where a political party has been broken away from its founding members. Two major such events have been:
- National Conference:
Sheikh Abdullah founded this party in the state of Jammu Kashmir. His son Farooq Abdullah succeeded him as the Chief Minister of the state after his death in 1982 and further went on to win the 1983 Assembly Elections with comfortable majority. A majority that was short lived as in 1984 his brother-in-law Ghulam Mohammad Shah split the party to become the Chief Minister. As of today the party very much remains firmly in control of the Abdullah’s and a major political force in the state and the country. While Ghulam Mohammad Shah after his short tenure remains in the margins of Jammu Kashmir politics
- Telgu Desham Party:
The Telugu Desham Party was founded by actor turned politician N. T. Rama Rao in 1982 in the erstwhile unified state of Andhra Pradesh. He was thrice elected as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. The last election he fought was in 1994 wining 269 seats in the 294 seat Assembly. This huge majority and his tenure were cut short by his Son-In-Law Chandra Babu Naidu led revolt in the party. Chandra Babu Naidu replaced NTR to become the CM in 1995 till 2004 and once again from 2014-2019. NTR died in 1986. The reigns of the party firmly remains in the hands of Chandra Babu Naidu
The question is whether the revolt by Shri Eknath Shinde will be a short lived like that one of Ghulam Mohammad Shah or whether he will be able to hold on to his ground like Chandra Babu Naidu.
I have a feeling the answer to this question can only be answered by the third party involved in this whole implosion.
What we see in this movie is not that happens something in some far away land, not too far from the cities we live in a Dalit G
room can’t ride on a Horse, no one wants to eat from a Dalit’s hands in schools that are supposed to remove this very idea of untouchability.
in the principles of the party and its leaders. They are never hankering for party posts or draw personal advantage from the above beliefs. For them being in power or not is immaterial as long as the party is true to its cause. This is a category any party should be proud to have but sadly they are the most neglected ones only remembered during the elections.
individual from their own party with tooth and nail. They are usually in minority in their party but that’s what gives them visibility, acceptance and media space. They may not have any worthwhile accomplishments of their own but their own stature is only fed on the criticism of the other.
damned!! They have complete faith, trust and confidence in their leader whichever side he chooses to be in. They are similar to the believers in a sense that like them they are always standing with their leaders. There is however a downside of having them, they sometimes cloud the reason of their leader and also takes them away from the reality.
They can suck-up to whoever is calling the shots. Considering the fleeting nature of politics they can switch loyalties in a blink of an eye with no remorse or guilt. They are perfect in playing the subservient role and can give a true follower a run for his money and make the Neta even question The Followers. They are the most dangerous one cause you don’t know when they switch to the other side and show their true colours.
perfectly. For them politics is another profession they have chosen to be to earn their livelihood. Their politics is about the advancement of their business and are usually in an industry that is highly dependent of government liaison or interference. They sometimes have to suffer from being close to a political party but the profits earned during the good times help them glide over these hiccups.
s first WW is busy showing off the success (questionable) that he has achieved that has taken him from a small town of Rajasthan to the lobbies of Delhi Five Star Hotels and I guess that qualifies him to question my work!! I have somehow always found this lobbying and Liaison work little dubious and questionable but again to each his own. The conversation left me wondering what kind of work of mine would give him मज़ा !!
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