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By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

Resorts, Rallies, and Rebellion

Inside Mahayuti’s high-stakes firefighting for legislative council polls Mumbai: The public posture of ruling Mahayuti alliance radiates supreme confidence. Leaders from the BJP, Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, and NCP led by Sunetra Pawar are predicting a clean sweep. Voting is scheduled for Thursday. Yet, beneath this calm exterior lies intense backstage panic. None of the alliance constituents are leaving any loose ends. No leader wants to take any risks, as everybody is trying to ensure...

Resorts, Rallies, and Rebellion

Inside Mahayuti’s high-stakes firefighting for legislative council polls Mumbai: The public posture of ruling Mahayuti alliance radiates supreme confidence. Leaders from the BJP, Shiv Sena led by Eknath Shinde, and NCP led by Sunetra Pawar are predicting a clean sweep. Voting is scheduled for Thursday. Yet, beneath this calm exterior lies intense backstage panic. None of the alliance constituents are leaving any loose ends. No leader wants to take any risks, as everybody is trying to ensure their real value is recognized and past political scores are waiting to be settled. This volatile environment has triggered widespread fears of cross-voting. It has given a massive boost to resort politics across the state. The upcoming contest spans 17 local self-government constituencies. The unique composition of this electorate makes the election highly unpredictable. The voters are not regular citizens. They are elected corporators, municipal councillors, and Zilla Parishad members. This setup makes the election hyper-localized. It offers a perfect shadow arena for local politicians to exercise leverage. Consequently, ruling alliance leaders are taking extraordinary measures to protect their flocks. Every single vote is being heavily guarded. Poaching Game Political parties have quickly locked down their voters to prevent poaching. Sources reveal that local body members from Sangli, Nanded, and Nagpur are already gone. They have been taken on special tours to Goa under tight supervision. Meanwhile, corporators from Nashik have been moved elsewhere. They are currently staying at a secluded luxury resort near Bhiwandi. These defensive tactics show how deeply the party bosses distrust their own members. Political managers are monitoring every voter’s movement around the clock. The ground reality across key cities highlights this deep regional friction. In Nagpur, the stakes are incredibly high. This by-election became necessary after state BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule vacated the seat. He did so after winning his election to the state assembly. The BJP cannot afford a defeat in its primary ideological stronghold. Similarly, the Wardha-Chandrapur-Gadchiroli constituency presents a tough challenge. The BJP has fielded Arun Lakhani for this crucial seat. However, managing the intricate web of local body representatives in Chandrapur is testing the party machinery. Shifting Loyalties Other regions show similar vulnerability. In seats like Jalgaon, Nanded, and Sangli, traditional political loyalties are shifting. Compounding these internal threats is the BJP’s aggressive campaign strategy. The party chose to treat this council election as an opportunity. They wanted to expand their standalone organisational footprint across the state. Instead of relying on traditional top-down bulk voting through alliance bosses, the BJP targeted the electorate directly. The party organised an array of localised rallies, town hall meetings, and gatherings of the electorate. Some of these events registered an excellent response. However, this unilateral approach deeply irritated their alliance partners and many of these events saw dismal attendance by BJP’s alliance partners. Apart from this general apathy, the real challenge was that of open rebellion within the ruling alliance’s internal ranks. Disgruntled local leaders, disappointed ticket seekers, and ignored district presidents had expressed loud resentment. Even sitting MLAs and MLCs have signaled their displeasure over candidate choices. State BJP leaders had to spend considerable energy for the firefighting and ensuring that rebellion is contained. Yet many leaders are still unhappy with current regional power equations. Frantic Firefighting Fearing massive internal sabotage, the BJP top brass has launched a frantic firefighting operation. Senior leaders have been entrusted with strict responsibilities to oversee specific seats. They are managing all local arrangements personally. Top party managers are literally crisscrossing the state using helicopters and chartered flights. They are conducting last-minute pacification drives in every sensitive district. These leaders are holding urgent, closed-door meetings to placate angry regional chieftains. They are working hard to neutralize rebel factions. No disgruntled leader is being left unattended before Thursday morning. Promises of future political rewards are being distributed generously. Leaders are promising state-run board appointments and fresh development funds to buy peace. The frantic resort lockdowns and endless late-night negotiations reveal the true story of this election. The Mahayuti may still win a majority of these 17 seats through sheer resource dominance. However, the visible fractures in cities like Nashik, Sangli, Chandrapur, and Jalgaon reveal a fragile coalition. This council election has ceased to be a routine legislative exercise. It has mutated into a brutal internal audit of the ruling alliance’s unity. The final results will offer a definitive look at who holds the real power.

Honour for cancer survivor

Odissi exponent Shubhada Varadkar gets Akademi award

Mumbai: Renowned Odissi virtuoso, Shubhada Varadkar has been honoured with the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award – the country’s highest honour in performing arts – as an acknowledgement of her artistic excellence and a tribute to her passion for dancing.


Unlike many others, Varadkar plunged into dancing relatively late - after completing her Matriculation from the Chembur High School, honouring the family’s traditions of “education first, everything else later”.


The Varadkars were deeply committed to academics and public service, traits that passed down the generations. Her father Manohar Varadkar, was a freedom fighter who later worked at BARC Chembur in the administration department, while her mother Manik participated in the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement.


“I spent nearly 10 years learning Bharata Natyam under Guru Shree Mani and later did my ‘arangetram’ performance after completing my graduation from Ruia College,” said Varadkar, 65, at her Borivali home.


Somewhere down the line, the multi-faceted personality – she played inter-university for the Mumbai University cricket team, then became a lecturer in Economics at her alma mater, she also worked as a news anchor for Doordarshan (1987-1994) – changed her dancing tracks.


Varadkar had a chance encounter with the legendary Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra, she discussed and learnt a lot about Odissi. She finally decided to embrace the classical dance form, giving her best to the art, trained to conquer all with her dazzling and dedicated performances.


Over the decades, her performances have enchanted audiences with her lyrical movements, expressive story-telling and a deep emotional connect, both in India and on the global stage, over the past four decades. Today, she is regarded as one of the most illustrious ambassadors of Odissi dance outside its native state, Odisha.


“I started with Bharat Natyam initially. Then I switched to Odissi… I felt I could explore a lot more through Odissi and it has brought me immense satisfaction and honours in my journey of performing arts,” Varadkar smiled in a chat with ‘The Perfect Voice’.


She admits that for the love of dancing, she had to gradually give up all her other passions of cricket, teaching, television with Odissi becoming her ‘fulltime passion and devotion’.


When she was soaring the heights of glory, during a performance in London in 2006, she was detected with ovarian cancer and had to cut short her tour to rush back home.


The gritty Varadkar underwent the full treatment protocols, but again after nearly 20-years in 2025, cancer returned in a different location in the body, the lungs – shocking the medicos.


In 2013, Varadkar penned down the long and inspiring struggle in her autobiography in Marathi, “Mayurpankh”, and following immense public response, she translated it into English as “The Celestial Plume” (2019).


Sanskrita Foundation for arts & sports
Around the time she was detected with cancer, in 2006, Shubhada Varadkar launched the ‘Sanskrita Foundation’. “We train students both in dancing and sports, especially those hailing from underprivileged backgrounds. We have multiple training centers for the youngsters for dancing and sports.”

Nurturing her flock of students, Sanskrita Foundation regularly organises classes, cultural festivals to promote classical arts and sporting events for the talented ones who lack resources or avenues to showcase their potential.

 

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