Cabinet colleagues, close aides continue causing public embarrassment to CM

Mumbai: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who has been the architect and face of BJP’s dominance in the state, has withstood political storms and coalition compulsions with equal ease underscoring his adaptive leadership style. Yet he has not been able to do away with two things - the unkindest criticism he faces over petty issues like physical appearance and caste complexities and the public embarrassment he has to face due to his colleagues and close aides.

Fadnavis turned 55 on Tuesday, when his cabinet colleague and agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate, caused yet another public embarrassment to him, by inadvertently termed the state government, as a ‘beggar’.

Incidentally, Fadnavis had publically rapped Kokate on Monday for ‘not concentrating on the legislature work while in the house’ after Kokate’s video where he was seen playing cards on his mobile in the legislative council while the house was transacting business during the recently concluded monsoon session of the Maharashtra legislature.

“When a serious discussion was ongoing in the State Legislature, it is unacceptable that a minister was seen playing Cards. We have to acknowledge that Kokate has done wrong. Ministers or MLAs should be seen reading papers and documents in the House. A minister playing online game during a session is not acceptable, and his clarification is also not convincing,” Fadnavis had told the media on Monday.

This was not the first time that the state government had come under attack from the opposition due to Kokate. Ahead of the budget session of the state legislature Kokate was sentenced to two-year sentence by a district court in over a two-decade old case.

After the recent controversy surrounding him, Kokate had called a press conference on Tuesday to tender an explanation. But he goofed up yet again.

“I don’t know how to play online rummy. One needs an OTP and bank account needs to be linked to play the game. One can check if my mobile phone is linked to any such game. I was trying to skip a game which popped up on my screen for 10 to 15 seconds,” the minister said while refuting the claims that he was playing games online. But, he didn’t stop at that. When asked about the CM’s public admonition of his conduct, the minister tried to prove the Cm wrong and said, “I haven’t briefed the CM about this. Neither has he conducted any inquiry. Hence, his opinion seems to have been formed over the media reports.”

The goof up did not stop there. Earlier this year, Kokate had allegedly compared farmers to beggars, inviting severe criticism. “Even a beggar does not take Re 1 in alms, but here we are giving crop insurance for Re 1. Even then, some people try to misuse it,” he had said.While tendering an explanation on Tuesday, Kokate said, “The government doesn't give Re 1 to farmers, it takes Re 1 from them. The government is a beggar.”

Fadnavis again had to publically admonish the minister. “If he has made such a comment, it is inappropriate for ministers to speak in this manner. We have taken corrective measures in the crop insurance scheme as we saw insurance companies benefitting and not farmers,” Fadnavis, who was touring the Gadchiroli district inaugurating various projects, told the reporters. “We have taken steps to make an investment of Rs 5,000 crore every year in the agriculture sector. Maharashtra's economy is good despite challenges,” the CM added.

The CM has been facing such embarrassments from his colleagues almost since he took over in 2014. However, the frequency and intensity of such incidents seem to have gone up off late. It was during the recently concluded monsoon session of the state legislature that a video of social justice minister Sanjay Shirsat when viral wherein he was seen smoking cigarette while a bag full of money lying aside. Fadnavis had to say that, “…a minister seen smoking in this manner was wrong.”

The open brawl among MLAs Gopichand Padalkar and Jitendra Awhad too caused huge embarrassment to the CM. Fadnavis was seen angry in the state assembly, probably for the first time, that day when he replied to discussion over the issue in the house. “Even Class 8 students too do not quarrel like this on streets,” he said while adding that the onus of the decline lies on all the MLAs.

Patience and persistence had been the two of the greatest virtues of the kind of politics Fadnavis has been pursuing since the beginning. However, sometimes it feels as if he has started losing patience due to the constant embarrassments he has been subjected to by his colleagues and close ones.

BJP celebrates CM’s birthday by organising 1000 blood donation camps

The Maharashtra state BJP organised more than 1000 blood donation camps across the state and collected more than one lakh bottles of blood as part of birthday celebrations of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, a press release from the state party office said here on Tuesday.

Newly elected state party president Ravindra Chavan had made an appeal to the party workers to engage themselves in some constructive activity on occasion of the CM’s birthday. Accordingly blood donation camps were organised in over than 1000 ‘Mandal’s as per the party’s organizational structure in the state and over one lakh bottle blood was collected across the state, the press release said. All the party office bearers participated in these blood donation camps, it added.

The CM had appealed party workers not to put up banners, posters or hoardings expressing birthday wishes to him. "If anyone thinks that they will be able to impress me by doing so, they are wrong," he had said in the appeal.