Will it be a stalemate or throw up a winner?

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray at Vidhan Bhavan. Uddhav and his associates in the MVA have been aggressive in fending off the Opposition. Pic/Suresh Karkera

The Maha Vikas Aghadi's (MVA) second budget session is turning out to be a game of one-upmanship between the government and the Opposition who have made accusations and allegations against each other. Providing for developmental expenditure in today's annual budget would be a tough task for the MVA when a depleting state coffer is again threatened by a rising number of COVID-19 cases, after a year of pandemic-induced economic backlash. Riding high on the ruling disposition's economic difficulties, the Opposition has been trying to blame the MVA for the mismanagement of the pandemic in particular and the state of affairs in general. Certain cases of law and order, which, to the misfortune of the government, cropped up during the session and ahead of it, have given the BJP a shot in the arm.

A Shiv Sena minister's resignation over allegations of abetment of suicide of a girl was dealt with before the session began, but a mysterious death of a person in the Ambani bomb scare case remains to be a wild card for the Opposition. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and his associates in the MVA have been equally aggressive in fending off the Opposition, bringing the game to a match point. The future developments would decide whether the game results in a stalemate or throws up a winner.

It seems true that the days when the legislature would mostly discuss the matters of public urgency are gone. The public representatives do discuss development and public welfare even now, but either they don't get highlighted or their focus shifts to politics while making their points. Does it happen because the public perception of politics has changed? It is increasingly observed that the leaders politicising every other issue get more traction in the media and public. The practice is unlikely to stop, but it was heartening to observe that the leaders from both sides urged each other to not politicise the issues of public importance. However, it was equally disheartening to see the leaders from either side showing such maturity selectively, mostly when the issues in discussion were detrimental to their own politics.

MVA's game plan
A year after running with a crown, the bashing of the BJP continues to be the MVA's favourite game plan, though it does not necessarily win over the people who want the government to perform on its own, unmindful of the BJP's designs. But the MVA reacts every time it gets provoked by the BJP. Shedding its subtlety in saying things, the BJP came up with an open threat of getting the President's Rule imposed in the state, clearly indicating the last option the Centre is left with to dismantle the three-party formation. On the other hand, the MVA vows by the unity of 170 MLAs of the Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party and the Indian National Congress that holds the government together, but it hasn't shut the doors on the BJP yet again by making all its member of the Assembly to vote for the Speaker's post. The Opposition says the MVA is bogged down by a fear of disintegration, knowing very well that getting a significant number of MLAs defected is unrealistic at this point of time.

In the middle of all politics, on the floor and behind the curtain moves - some remarkable events came to the fore in the first week. CM Thackeray made no bones about expressing his strong dislike for the BJP and its parent organisation the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Previously, Thackeray shied away from bringing in the BJP's top leadership and the RSS in his arguments to prove the Shiv Sena's ‘unique Hindutva'. This time around, he went all out to question the RSS's role in the national freedom struggle and even upset his secular allies by reiterating, as the CM of a secular government, the Sena's active role in demolishing the disputed structure in Ayodhya where a Ram Temple would come up.

Speaking his mind
Another noticeable factor that weighs in terms of a ‘missing aggression' from the Congress's side is the former Speaker Nana Patole, who being the state Congress president, gets ample opportunity to speak his mind against the BJP. In the past week, Patole worked on a single-point agenda of countering ex-CM Devendra Fadnavis, who appears sharper than his previous self in the Opposition. Another leader from the BJP, Sudhir Mungantiwar, used the time effectively to criticise and intimidate the MVA with a ‘Prez Rule' caution over the issues that he thinks would create a constitutional crisis fit for the Centre-Raj Bhavan combination to step in to govern the state.

Dharmendra Jore is political editor, mid-day. He tweets @dharmendrajore. Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com