Battle for credit in a crisis

In politics perception often matters more than having an actual plan Immediately after the terror attack in the Anantnag district of Jammu and Kashmir the state government launched Mission Kashmir to bring stranded Maharashtra tourists back from the terrorstricken Pahalgam hill stationThe operation that started as a compassionate move by the custodian of the state in the end gave the impression of a lsquobattle for creditrsquo among the Mahayuti alliance partners the Bharatiya Janata Party Eknath Shindeled Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawarled Nationalist Congress Party The mission which started as a political deuce for Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in the end turned into advantage Deva Bhau as Fadnavis is fondly called by manyWith several visitors stuck in Srinagar in the wake of the terror attack the Maharashtra government swung into action to bring families back homeFadnavis deputed his most trusted manndashBJP leader and colleague in the cabinetndashState Minister for Disaster Management Girish Mahajanndashto personally travel to Srinagar Mahajan briefed the CM about the casualties and put Fadnavis in touch with survivors via video callBesides deputing Mahajan the CM ensured smooth coordination in Mumbai and Pune where flights with the mortal remains of the victims landed Fadnavis tasked BJP minister Ashish Shelar and MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha with being present at Mumbai airport and another party minister Madhuri Misal was asked to be present at the Pune airportEven NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar jumped on the bandwagon and dialled JampK Chief Minister Omar Abdullah urging the latter to ensure proper security arrangements for stranded tourists and their safe return to MaharashtraMany in the Shinde camp started sensing this as an attempt by the BJP to take credit for the rescue operation Not to be left behind Shinde immediately flew to Srinagar As soon as he reached the deputy chief minister started meeting affected tourists and even visited hospitals to check in on victims Citizens began praising his prompt action and bold leadership qualitiesHowever Mahajan and Shinde travelling separately to Srinagar was a point of discussion in political corridors and gave the Opposition an opportunity to take potshots at the ruling government Since the formation of the BJPled Mahayuti government the Opposition has been talking about rifts in the ruling alliance The rescue operation was another reason to do the sameHowever leaders from the ruling alliance including Shinde refuted the charges and slammed the Opposition for its lsquoinsensitivityrsquomdashturning this into a political slugfest instead of staying united during the crisis Within 48 hours of the clarification the lack of coordination between the ruling alliance partners came to the fore again This time between Fadnavis and Shinde On two occasions the differences were clearly visiblemdashwhen the CMrsquos office released news that 500 tourists had returned while Shindersquos office put out a statement that 520 people had been brought back Then on Sunday April 27 Shinde while addressing a public gathering mentioned that 107 Pakistani nationals who had entered the state were untraceable Fadnavis quickly clarified that all Pakistani nationals had been identified and would be sent back soon no Pakistani was missing and that Shindersquos statement was completely baselessShinde had been hitting all the right notes and was seen as Hero No 1 owing to his decision to personally visit the terrorhit region His party leaders and workers had started projecting their leaderrsquos visit and rescue operation as the Shiv Senarsquos initiative while in actuality the cost for bringing back stranded tourists to Maharashtra was said to have been borne by the state government Shindersquos compassionate actions soon started being perceived as a hunger for publicity His partyrsquos rank and file also started putting up posters and hoardings that projected Shinde as the sole saviour This messaging blitz irked citizens who started questioning whether the special aircraft arrangements were made by Shinde or the state government Some asked if this was a lsquoSarkarirsquo operation why take credit for something funded by taxpayersrsquo moneyOn the other hand Fadnavis is said to have taken a different routemdashstaying behind in Mumbai and overseeing the operation to bring back stranded tourists safelyTaking a cue from the chief ministerrsquos calm and composed stance while handling the situation the BJP leadership and party workers too exhibited similar qualities and refrained from making big claims and putting up political bannersEvery time Fadnavis met mediapersons he maintained that the government was in contact with those stranded in Srinagar and would ensure that everyone got home safeBut as Mission Kashmir ended what started as teamwork slowly split into two separate narratives with netizens starting to assess the rescue operations Conversation on the rescue operation has slowly turned into assessment of leadership qualitiesmdashwhich leader acted with maturity and exhibited skills during a crisis Shinde who was in the pilotrsquos seat when rescue operations commenced had to make a turbulent landing at the endmdashthanks to his party leaders and publicity campaignOn the other hand the political maturity exhibited by the BJP leadership and the CM not only struck the right chord but also gave Fadnavis the upper hand in this game of political oneupmanshipSanjeev Shivadekar is political editor midday He tweets SanjeevScribeSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paperatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params