top of page

By:

Correspondent

21 August 2024 at 3:50:16 pm

Optics First

On the very day Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed 25 years in executive office, Opposition leader and Congress scion Rahul Gandhi offered his own political counter-programme: another impromptu sit-in, another confrontation with the police and another opportunity for the cameras. It was difficult not to see it as an attempt to steal some of Modi’s thunder. The Opposition has alleged irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls and accused the Election Commission of bias. The ECI and...

Optics First

On the very day Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed 25 years in executive office, Opposition leader and Congress scion Rahul Gandhi offered his own political counter-programme: another impromptu sit-in, another confrontation with the police and another opportunity for the cameras. It was difficult not to see it as an attempt to steal some of Modi’s thunder. The Opposition has alleged irregularities in the revision of electoral rolls and accused the Election Commission of bias. The ECI and the government have rejected those allegations. The issue itself is serious and deserves scrutiny. But the increasingly elaborate choreography surrounding Rahul Gandhi’s protests raises a more pointed question: is the objective to persuade the electorate, pressure an institution or simply manufacture an image of permanent confrontation? The latest episode was hardly an isolated improvisation. In July, Rahul and Congress leaders turned up unexpectedly near the Prime Minister’s residence following student protests and demanded an FIR. A month later came another dramatic intervention at a police station over a student’s alleged pellet injury. Now comes the Akashvani Bhawan episode in form of a surprise dash on Gandhi’s part followed by an hours-long sit-in and eventual detention. There is nothing inherently undemocratic about street protest. But there is a distinction between making an issue impossible to ignore and making oneself impossible to ignore. Even Rahul’s INDIA bloc partners appear to have noticed that distinction. Reports suggest some allies were unhappy that what began as a joint Opposition protest increasingly came to resemble a Rahul Gandhi-led exercise, with questions also raised over the strategy and the demand to meet the Election Commission. That is a revealing fault line. A political movement requires a coherent argument, institutional pressure and, above all, a credible proposition about what should happen next. Rahul Gandhi may be trying to demonstrate that he is no longer merely the politician who speaks from the podium or posts on social media. He wants to be seen confronting power physically and visibly. That may energise his supporters. But political theatre has diminishing returns when the performance begins to overshadow the purpose. Rahul Gandhi once seemed determined to establish himself as an alternative to Narendra Modi through speeches, parliamentary interventions and the politics of the road. He now appears equally invested in establishing himself as the politician willing to physically confront the state. But politics is not a contest for the most arrestable photograph. If the allegation is “vote theft”, the burden is to establish the theft.The danger for Rahul Gandhi is that the spectacle eventually becomes bigger than the cause. If the argument is that Indian democracy is being hollowed out, the Opposition needs an argument capable of surviving after the cameras leave. Because politics cannot forever be optics first.

BMC auctioning three land parcels to raise funds, says Aaditya

Correspondent
Oct 18, 2024
2 min read

Updated: Oct 22, 2024

Aaditya

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Thursday alleged Mumbai’s civic body had decided to auction three land parcels to raise funds and make up for the “loot” of the metropolis by the Eknath Shinde government.


The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, which is being run by an administrator now, has decided to auction the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Mandi (Market), the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Malabar Hill Receiving Station and the Worli Asphalt Plant, Thackeray pointed out.


“The sale of Mumbai is being done by the Eknath Shinde regime to benefit its favourite builders and contractors,” he alleged.


A criminal investigation will be conducted into the matter after the Maha Vikas Aghadi government comes to power, Thackeray added.


“So on one end, they looted the BMC and Mumbai and gave the money to their favourite contractors. Now, by auctioning these iconic and important land parcels, the BMC will be left without both funds and plots,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former state minister claimed.


When Shiv Sena started controlling the BMC in 1997, its finances were in deficit but by 2022 his party turned around the fiscal health of the civic body, Thackeray said.


Alleging that the Shinde government wants to drive Kolis and fisherfolk out of Mumbai, he said, “We will oppose this. It has to remain and be made into a fish market, and (should be) in the ownership of the BMC.”


Aaditya puppet for urban naxals: Shelar

Bharatiya Janata Party ( BJP ) Mumbai chief Ashish Shelar has called Uddhav Thackeray’s son and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray as a puppet for urban naxals after former’s comments on the Dharavi Redevelopment project and has also challenged him for a debate.

Ashish Shelar said that the project is a necessity and a priority project, adding that Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena and Congressleader Varsha Gaikwad are peddling lies.

Aaditya Thackeray seems to have become the spokesperson of urban Naxals. Without studying the subject (Dharavi) in detail, Aaditya Thackeray is speaking like an ignorant. I have seen that these people have been trying to set a narrative regarding Dharavi and the re-development work,” Ashish Shelar said.

He challenged Aaditya Thackeray and Varsha Gaikwad in a debate on the Dharavi Redevelopment Project.

“Uddhav ji and the people of his party – Aaditya Thackeray and Varsha Gaikwad have started this false narrative regarding Dharavi. I openly challenge Aaditya for a debate. I want to ask him that 70 per cent of the homes in the Dharavi Redevelopment Project will go to Marathi people, Muslims and Dalits. It is their rightful home, so why are they putting roadblocks by creating a false narrative?”

Comments

bottom of page