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21 August 2024 at 10:20:16 am

Holy Contracts

The Kumbh Mela is supposed to be a celebration of faith. But in Maharashtra, it is beginning to look rather too much like an opportunity for fraudsters. For the BJP-led Mahayuti, the alleged Kumbh Mela scam is a potentially damaging test of political credibility and an unwelcome headache for Minister Girish Mahajan. The arrest of Tanay Mahajan, described as a distant relative of the Minister, in an alleged racket involving fake Kumbh work orders has handed the Opposition an opportunity it...

Holy Contracts

The Kumbh Mela is supposed to be a celebration of faith. But in Maharashtra, it is beginning to look rather too much like an opportunity for fraudsters. For the BJP-led Mahayuti, the alleged Kumbh Mela scam is a potentially damaging test of political credibility and an unwelcome headache for Minister Girish Mahajan. The arrest of Tanay Mahajan, described as a distant relative of the Minister, in an alleged racket involving fake Kumbh work orders has handed the Opposition an opportunity it will be eager to exploit. The scale of the alleged fraud makes the matter particularly serious. Police say fake work orders were shown for projects worth around Rs. 591 crore and that those who came forward were allegedly cheated of Rs. 305 crore. One complainant alone is said to have lost Rs. 2.17 crore. The documents allegedly bore the Government of India emblem and the name of the Nashik-Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela Authority. Mahajan has sought to distance himself from the accused, calling him a “gone case” and saying criminal cases had previously been registered against him. He has also urged strict action against everyone involved. But politically, the Minister’s proximity to one of the accused makes the episode difficult to quarantine as an ordinary fraud case. The Fadnavis government’s larger problem is one of perception. The Kumbh Mela is one of Maharashtra’s biggest public undertakings, involving enormous expenditure, infrastructure contracts and administrative machinery. If fake work orders worth hundreds of crores could circulate convincingly enough to extract money from contractors, questions will inevitably be asked about the safeguards surrounding the real tendering process. Mahajan’s clarification that Kumbh tenders are processed online, and that genuine work orders are not issued in the names of individual officials or accompanied by unauthorised QR codes, raises the obvious question: why did the alleged racket find enough room to operate in the first place? The timing makes the political challenge sharper. The Kumbh controversy comes on the heels of allegations surrounding the recent theft of Ram Mandir donations in a BJP-ruled state. A succession of controversies can create a narrative about institutional laxity on part of the ruling party at the Centre and in Maharashtra. The answer must be radical transparency. The police must follow the money, identify everyone who prepared or circulated the forged documents and establish whether anyone inside the system enabled the racket. The government should simultaneously publish a clear account of Kumbh tenders, safeguards and authorisations. The Kumbh should be an exercise in public administration, not an invitation to private profiteering. If the Mahayuti wants to prevent this alleged scam from snowballing into a larger political embarrassment, it must demonstrate that the state and not its middlemen, is in charge.

SS MP threatens to ‘bomb’ political opponents

Journalists staged a protest outside Balasaheb Bhavan against Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Dina Patil, condemning his alleged remarks against members of the media. Pic: Bhushan Koyande
Journalists staged a protest outside Balasaheb Bhavan against Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Dina Patil, condemning his alleged remarks against members of the media. Pic: Bhushan Koyande

Mumbai: Mumbai North-East MP Sanjay Dina-Patil – who recently defected to the ruling ally Shiv Sena apparently went haywire on Thursday, hurling bomb threats at political opponents, spitting expletives at protestors, warning jounos of assault and warning anybody “to do whatever you can”, sparking a massive political furore.


Elected on a Shiv Sena (UBT) ticket, Dina-Patil lost his temper when he was questioned on his daughter and SS (UBT) Municipal Corporator Rajool Patil who went to meet ex-CM Uddhav Thackeray to express her allegiance despite her father’s defection to the Shiv Sena led by Deputy CM Eknath Shinde.


Instead of replying, Dina-Patil, reported to be short-tempered, blew his top and reacted aggressively with abuses: “Record this on camera… I have spoken to you for 2 minutes, I respect you, you should do the same… Don’t mess with me. If you return here, I will thrash and send you back. I am saying this in front of the police, you do whatever you want.”


Just a couple of days ago, Dina-Patil had threatened SS (UBT) workers protesting against him. “Anybody who tries to cross my path, I will send them to the crematorium or the hospital. We have committed five murders in the past. If you protest against me, I will throw bombs on you and enter your house to hammer you.”


As these threats and unparliamentary language stoked a massive political row, SS (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut shot off a letter to Mumbai Commissioner of Police Deven Bharti, demanding that the police probe all the statements of Dina-Patil and ‘book him for murder’.


On the alleged bomb threats, Raut said if Dina-Patil had acquired the explosives from some terrorist organisation, he should be arrested under the dreaded Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, dealing with terrorism, terming it as a matter of national security.


Political Explosion

The matter escalated into a full-fledged political brawl with Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) leaders like Congress’ Nana Patole, Vijay Wadettiwar; SS (UBT)’s Aditya Thackeray, Sunil Raut, Sushma Andhare; Nationalist Congress Party (SP)’s Supriya Sule, Dr. Jitendra Awhad, Jayant R. Patil, and many more, attacking Dina-Patil and demanding that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis must act in the matter.


Aditya challenged Dina-Patil to instantly quit as MP, recontest in the name of Shinde or PM Narendra Modi and then see the outcome. Andhare said till the MPs were with SS (UBT), they were cultured but after walking over to the Shiv Sena, they have lost all their etiquettes or fear of the laws.


Faced with an embarrassing backlash, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Shiv Sena’s Omprakash Babarao alias Bachhu Kadu quickly tendered unconditional apologies to the media on behalf of Dina-Patil, while Minister Girish Mahajan attempted to equate the outburst with recent strong language used by Sanjay Raut, who had said that “Shinde has given birth to 6 traitors”.


On Raut’s letter to the CoP, a defiant Dina-Patil declared: “Whatever I said, I did it openly. If the police feel any action is to be taken against me, I am ready to face the consequences.”


He again slammed the media persons for "thrusting microphones at him”, going to the ‘other side’ (the MVA) and then returning to quiz him, prompting the TV Journalists Association and other media groups to protest and seek action against the belligerent MP. “Has the MP been provided (Y-Plus) security at public expense to threaten the media which is doing its duty or the political protesters?” asked an irate TV reporter.


Dina-Patil launched a broadside against the MVA and dared those who dubbed him a ‘traitor’ to come to his constituency without any security. On the incident of five murders, he airily said: “It had happened before I was born”, but Raut retorted claiming to possess details of all those alleged killings.


“I don’t need an entourage of 10 vehicles as I rule the hearts of the people. I have aligned myself with ‘real men’. Shinde Saheb has commended me for my stand,” he claimed.


Fadnavis and Shinde commented briefly on the matter and later were closeted in a meeting to discuss the fallout of Dina-Patil’s utterances especially after the media launched strong protests in different parts of Mumbai.

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