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By:

Abhijit Joshi

31 August 2024 at 10:09:24 am

Power Games in the Rain

As legislators trade defections for reforms and accusations for applause, Maharashtra’s monsoon session finds the state’s citizens still awaiting relief. The Monsoon Session of the Maharashtra Legislature has evolved into a revealing contest over power and political survival instead of the constitutional ritual of debating laws and approving budgets it is meant to be. While the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti has sought to project itself as a reforming administration pushing through...

Power Games in the Rain

As legislators trade defections for reforms and accusations for applause, Maharashtra’s monsoon session finds the state’s citizens still awaiting relief. The Monsoon Session of the Maharashtra Legislature has evolved into a revealing contest over power and political survival instead of the constitutional ritual of debating laws and approving budgets it is meant to be. While the Devendra Fadnavis-led Mahayuti has sought to project itself as a reforming administration pushing through legislation and welfare measures, the opposition has tried to paint it as a government more adept at political management than public administration. Outside the legislature, meanwhile, Maharashtra has been wrestling with the familiar burdens of floods and a paradoxical water scarcity, power outages and rural distress, reminding politicians that nature remains stubbornly indifferent to partisan battles. Contentious Session The session’s first controversy arrived before substantive legislative business had even begun. During obituary references to eminent personalities who had died over the past year, Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar stumbled repeatedly while reading names and citations. Curiously, the opposition initially let the errors pass. Only after Raj Thackeray mocked the lapses in his characteristic style did the issue gather political momentum. Opposition parties swiftly turned their attention to the Speaker’s conduct, forcing Narwekar to apologise before the House and drawing an early curtain on what might otherwise have become a prolonged embarrassment. The more consequential drama, however, unfolded beyond the chamber. What came to be known as ‘Operation Tiger’ further weakened the Shiv Sena (UBT), drawing several leaders towards the ruling camp. Although Uddhav Thackeray toured constituencies represented by defectors in an attempt to contain the damage, the defections showed that organisational strength matters less when political gravity is pulling in the opposite direction. That impression was reinforced when Council MLA Sachin Ahir, seen alongside UBT leaders in the morning, filed his nomination for the post of Deputy Chairman of the Legislative Council later the same day as the candidate of the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena. The speed of the switch surprised even seasoned observers. Many credited Shinde with executing yet another carefully calibrated political manoeuvre. Game of Thrones Predictably, whispers of a possible ‘Operation Tutari’ have begun circulating, suggesting that Maharashtra's game of defections is far from over. Inside the legislature, the government has tried to ensure that politics does not overshadow policymaking. It presented supplementary demands exceeding Rs. 97,700 crore for 2026-27, promising greater spending on infrastructure, welfare programmes and development projects. Whether this translates into effective delivery remains the more important question. Among the session's more consequential measures is the Women Farmers’ Empowerment Bill. In much of rural Maharashtra, women undertake much of the agricultural labour but remain invisible in official records because land titles are held in the names of male relatives. The legislation seeks to correct that anomaly by granting women cultivators formal recognition as farmers regardless of land ownership. Official certification would enable them to access government schemes, institutional credit, subsidies and market support. If implemented seriously rather than symbolically, the reform could reshape the economic status of rural women across the state. The Assembly has also strengthened the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors Act. By requiring those convicted of defrauding investors to deposit half the disputed amount before filing an appeal, the government hopes to speed up compensation for victims while discouraging frivolous litigation. It is an attempt to reassure ordinary savers at a time when financial fraud has become both more frequent and more sophisticated. The passage of the Freedom of Religion Bill has proved considerably more contentious. The government argues that the legislation is designed to curb illegal religious conversions and protect vulnerable citizens. The opposition counters that a law with significant constitutional implications deserved fuller scrutiny than it received. Opposition leaders, including Nana Patole, Jayant Patil and Sunil Prabhu, have repeatedly accused the treasury benches of rushing legislation through the House while curtailing debate. Their protests culminated in a walkout during discussions on municipal laws. Ministers responded that the opposition had squandered valuable time through repeated disruptions and could hardly complain about compressed proceedings afterwards. United on Agriculture If any issue has united the opposition, it is agriculture. Members have repeatedly attacked the eligibility conditions attached to the state's farm loan-waiver scheme, arguing that many indebted cultivators remain excluded by restrictive criteria. They have demanded a comprehensive waiver rather than selective relief. Water scarcity, despite the arrival of the monsoon, has also remained politically potent. Delayed rainfall left several districts facing drought-like conditions before the rains eventually arrived, prompting demands for a dedicated debate on water management and drought relief. Yet, it is events outside the Assembly that have most exposed the gap between legislation and lived reality. Heavy rains have once again paralysed Mumbai, flooding roads, disrupting suburban rail services and delaying flights. The annual submergence of the Andheri subway has become less an aberration than a seasonal ritual, raising persistent questions about the city’s infrastructure and preparedness despite years of promises. Rural Maharashtra faces a different but equally pressing crisis. Farmers in districts such as Bhandara have protested prolonged electricity outages caused by damaged transmission lines, leaving irrigation pumps idle at a critical stage of the cropping season. Many have threatened hunger strikes unless power is restored swiftly. As the session approaches its conclusion, both sides will claim vindication. The government will point to a substantial legislative record and argue that it has pursued meaningful reforms while maintaining political stability. The opposition will insist that legislative productivity cannot compensate for administrative shortcomings. The session has therefore become a microcosm of contemporary Maharashtra. It has featured ambitious legislation, relentless political manoeuvring, high-profile defections and increasingly bitter procedural disputes. The measure of its success will lie in whether decisions taken here improved the lives of citizens once the Assembly adjourns and the headlines move on. In Maharashtra, as in politics more generally, the hardest task begins after the applause has faded. (The writer is a political observer. Views personal.)

India working on logistics of Tahawwur Rana's extradition

  • PTI
  • Feb 14, 2025
  • 3 min read

Updated: Feb 18, 2025

Tahawwur Rana

Washington: India is working on the logistics of Tahawwur Rana's surrender and extradition from the US, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri has said, as President Donald Trump announced that his administration has given the go-ahead to extradite the 26/11 terror attack accused “to face justice".

“This is an issue on which the US authorities have taken very clear decisions. I think you've seen the President announce it himself from the White House podium" the decision of the US to extradite Rana, Misri said at a press conference here on Thursday.


During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the White House, US President Donald Trump announced that his administration has approved the extradition of "very evil" Tahawwur Rana, wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, "to face justice in India”.


In response to a question by PTI on the timeframe by when Rana will be extradited to India, Misri said: "We are working on the logistics of his surrender and extradition to India. There are a few final steps to be completed. The two sides are in touch on this particular issue.”


The India-US joint statement issued during the Prime Minister's visit to the US notes that Modi and Trump reaffirmed that the global scourge of terrorism must be fought and terrorist safe havens eliminated from every corner of the world.

“They committed to strengthen cooperation against terrorist threats from groups, including Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Jaish-e Mohammad, and Lashkar-e-Tayyiba in order to prevent heinous acts like the attacks in Mumbai on 26/11 and the Abbey Gate bombing in Afghanistan on August 26, 2021," the joint statement said.


“Recognising a shared desire to bring to justice those who would harm our citizens, the US announced that the extradition to India of Tahawwur Rana has been approved," it said.


The leaders further called on Pakistan to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai, and Pathankot attacks and ensure that its territory is not used to carry out cross-border terrorist attacks.

"The leaders also pledged to work together to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems and to deny access to such weapons by terrorists and non-state actors,” the joint statement added.

Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles. He is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks.

Speaking at the joint press meet, Trump said "Today I am pleased to announce that my administration has approved the extradition of one of the plotters and very evil people of the world, and having to do with the horrific Mumbai terrorist attack, to face justice in India. So, he is going back to India to face justice."


The extradition of Rana was cleared by the US Supreme Court in January as it rejected his review petition in the case.


India last month said it was working with American authorities for the early extradition of Rana.


"The US Supreme Court on January 21 declined to hear a petition from the accused. We are now working with the US side on procedural issues for early extradition to India of the accused in the Mumbai terror attack," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said.


In November 2012, Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone surviving gunman among the Pakistani group, was hanged to death in Yerawada Jail in Pune.

-PTI

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