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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Thackerays’ ‘Taandav’ for trees, tigers

AI generated image Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray launched a sharp attack on the government for the systematic degradation of the state’s environment under the garb of development, even as the climate change poses a direct threat to the environment, economy, agriculture, public health and the future of both rural and urban centres. Questioning the state government’s claims of having planted millions of trees, he rued how the World Environment Day has been...

Thackerays’ ‘Taandav’ for trees, tigers

AI generated image Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray launched a sharp attack on the government for the systematic degradation of the state’s environment under the garb of development, even as the climate change poses a direct threat to the environment, economy, agriculture, public health and the future of both rural and urban centres. Questioning the state government’s claims of having planted millions of trees, he rued how the World Environment Day has been reduced to an annual ritual of tree-planting drives and clicking selfies for social media, though 90 pc of the saplings don’t survive even a day. “Only the government knows where those trees really are,” said Raj sternly. He recalled a "Blueprint of Maharashtra’s Development" he had proposed in 2015, in which he advocated how development without environmental sensitivity is hollow. Justifying, he said that the consequences are visible where roads, bridges and infrastructure projects are hailed as achievements, but even a short spell of rainfall can paralyze entire cities. Referring to recent reports on farmers returning from the fields after 10 am due to the scorching heat, Raj said that the worsening climate crisis has become an everyday reality. Citing official statistics, Raj claimed that extreme heat has caused productivity losses of nearly USD 159 billion and slashing of 160 billion work-hours annually in recent years. He mentioned the World Bank estimates that India’s GDP could plummet by 2.5-4.5 pc while 57 pc of the country’s districts sheltering 76 pc of the population stare at serious climate-related crises. Taking a swipe, he said while the governments boast about growth figures and economical rankings, they are silent on the staggering costs of environmental destruction. He questioned the development model “whether flooded cities, washed-away crops and unbearable summers” genuinely indicate progress. Claiming that Maharashtra was increasingly becoming unliveable for upto 8 months in a year, he said excessive monsoon rains disrupt rural life and urban floods cripple cities, while extreme heat make normal life a torture in summers in both urban-rural areas. Targeting the Centre, Raj alleged that nearly 173,984 hectares of forest lands were diverted in the past 11 years for mining and infrastructure projects to benefit the PM’s single favourite Adani Group. He said that these lands amount to 1,730 sqkm, or equivalent to the area of 16 Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) that is spread over barely 104 sqkm. Dissolve state wildlife board: Aaditya Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aditya Thackeray has accused the Maharashtra government for issuing a permit to carry out mining activity in the sensitive tiger corridor between the Tadoba-Andhari and Indravati sanctuaries housing the big striped cats. In a strongly-worded letter to the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) Member-Secretary Sanjay Kumar, Thackeray sought his immediate personal intervention, sacking the Maharashtra State Board for Wild-Life (SBWL), revoking the permit, and probe against the Chief Wildlife Warden & Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) M. Srinivasa Reddy for the alleged lacunae. Aditya’s two-pager says the permit has been granted for “scientific exploration and excavation/systematic recovery of low-grade iron ore in existing mines in villages Hedri, Bande, Parsalgondi and Round Parsalgondi, in the Etapalli taluka of Gadchiroli district”. Last January, Aditya – MLA from Worli – had first raised the issue saying that the proposed mine would create only 120 jobs, including 32 permanent, and the estimated output is pegged at 1.1 million tons in a year. Referring to two letters of Reddy – on April 28 and May 21 – the SS (UBT) leader claimed that in communications to the state government, the PCCF had changed his stance on the issue. Aditya said that in the first letter, Reddy had effectively opposed the government plans for mining activity but in the second letter, he took a somersault, ostensibly due to government pressures or some commercial interests, “the U-turn is disgraceful and detrimental to India’s national interest” – and this abrupt shift in stance must be investigated thoroughly. In view of the contrary stance of the PCCF Reddy, entrusted with protecting the wildlife but failing to defend the NTCA and NBWL, point to serious malfunctioning of the SBWL, and hence it must be dissolved, besides reviewing all its decisions in the past three years, particularly those pertaining to hazardous activities in sensitive areas, demanded Aditya. 444 tigers roam in 11,000 sq.km As per the Status of Tiger Report (2002), and the Maharashtra Economic Survey 2025-2026, the state boasts of 444 tigers prowling in the wild along with other menacing creatures. The state’s total protected wildlife network of 88 Notified Areas of National Parks, Sanctuaries, and Conservation Reserves - including 6 dedicated to the striped big cats – is spread over 11,092 sq. kms as per current data.

Muslim League Challenged Congress High Command

New Delhi: The power equation that emerged between the Congress party and the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) during the selection of Kerala's Chief Minister has revived an old question in Indian politics that Is the Congress still compelled to make key political decisions under pressure from its Muslim allies? The results of the May 2026 Kerala Assembly elections and the developments that followed have given fresh momentum to this debate.


In Kerala, the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) secured a sweeping mandate, winning 102 out of 140 seats and crossing the two-thirds majority mark. The Congress itself won 63 seats, while its ally, the Indian Union Muslim League, secured 22 seats. Of the 35 Muslim MLAs elected to the Assembly, 30 belonged to the UDF alliance, including 8 from the Congress and 22 from the IUML. This arithmetic ultimately became central to the power balance within the coalition.


The contest for the Chief Minister's post came down to K.C. Venugopal, considered close to the Congress high command, and V.D. Satheesan, the former Leader of Opposition. In the end, the Congress leadership was forced to endorse Satheesan. Political circles openly discussed the possibility that if the IUML and its supporting legislators firmly backed Satheesan, any resistance from the Congress high command could have jeopardized the party's return to power in Kerala.


According to political observers, members of the Nehru-Gandhi family reportedly held multiple conversations with IUML president Prof. K.M. Kader Mohideen, general secretary P.K. Kunhalikutty, and senior leader and MP E.T. Mohammed Basheer, urging them to support Venugopal's candidature. Yet the Muslim League leadership reportedly refused to relent.


Striking Aspect

Perhaps the most striking aspect of the episode was the appearance of posters in Wayanad. The posters warned Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi that if the "choice of the high command" was imposed on Kerala, Wayanad could become "the next Amethi." Some posters even described K.C. Venugopal as "Rahul Gandhi's bag carrier." The message was unmistakable that in Kerala's political landscape, local equations and the influence of the Muslim League had become more powerful than directives from Delhi high Command. Ultimately, the Congress high command appeared to have little choice but to yield.


Wayanad itself carries deep symbolic significance. Rahul Gandhi won the Lok Sabha seat from Wayanad in 2019, and the constituency later became politically important for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as well. The IUML wields considerable influence in the region, which is precisely why the Congress leadership seemed unwilling to risk a confrontation.


In reality, this is not merely a Kerala story. Recent Assembly election data indicate that Muslim representation within the Congress's political structure has grown significantly. In Assam, 18 of the Congress party's 19 winning candidates were Muslims. In West Bengal, both seats won by the Congress were secured by Muslim candidates. In Tamil Nadu, one Muslim Congress candidate emerged victorious. In Kerala, meanwhile, the influence of Muslim legislators within the UDF has reached a decisive level.


This is why the BJP and its supporters have long accused the Congress of engaging in what they describe as "Muslim appeasement." Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself had earlier referred to the Congress manifesto as bearing "the imprint of the Muslim League." The Congress has consistently rejected these allegations, but the Kerala developments have undoubtedly handed fresh ammunition to its political opponents.


Lucknow Pact

The history of Congress-Muslim League relations has also remained deeply controversial. In the 1916 Lucknow Pact, the Congress accepted the Muslim League's demand for separate electorates, a move often seen as the formal beginning of communal political representation in India. In subsequent years, the Congress's support for the Khilafat Movement, its repeated attempts at accommodation with Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and its strategies during the politics of Partition (of India) all invited, intense scrutiny and criticism.


Even after Independence, ties between the Congress and the Muslim League never completely disappeared. Since the 1960s, the Congress and the IUML have maintained a durable electoral alliance in Kerala. Muslim League leaders continued to enjoy representation in government and ministerial positions. The Congress defended this arrangement as a necessity of coalition politics and social representation, while critics viewed it as an ideological compromise.


Contemporary Kerala appears to be the latest expression of this long political tradition. The Congress leadership, despite its preferences, could not install its chosen candidate as Chief Minister. V.D. Satheesan gained the advantage largely because he was perceived as a grassroots leader with stronger equations with the IUML. In contrast, K.C. Venugopal came to be seen as "High Command's candidate."


The episode also signals a deeper transformation within the Congress party itself. The once-dominant "high command model" now appears increasingly weakened, which historically exercised sweeping control over state units and leadership changes. Regional leaders and religious-social equations are exerting far greater influence. For perhaps the first time so visibly, the political limitations of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi have come into public view.


"The League is being attacked as part of a hate campaign to create a divide in Kerala. My question to the people of Kerala is - if IUML is weakened, who will step into that vacant space? Communal forces will occupy that space. So, the League is a political party preventing that from happening. Those opposing it should understand that.”

V D Satheesan, CM-designate, Kerala

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