By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

Fadnavis writes off Rs 48,000 crore

Mumbai: In a clear indication that the Maharashtra government is leaving no stone unturned to keep the state’s agrarian base happy, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has unleashed yet another massive populist measure. Hot on the heels of relaxing the eligibility criteria to ensure a blanket farm loan waiver, the Chief Minister announced a sweeping Rs 48,000 crore waiver on the pending electricity bills of farmers across the state. Addressing a ‘Krutadnyata Sohala’ (gratitude ceremony)...

min read

Mumbai: In a clear indication that the Maharashtra government is leaving no stone unturned to keep the state’s agrarian base happy, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has unleashed yet another massive populist measure. Hot on the heels of relaxing the eligibility criteria to ensure a blanket farm loan waiver, the Chief Minister announced a sweeping Rs 48,000 crore waiver on the pending electricity bills of farmers across the state. Addressing a ‘Krutadnyata Sohala’ (gratitude ceremony) organized by the BJP Kisan Morcha at Mumbai’s Yashwantrao Chavan Pratishthan on Wednesday, Fadnavis declared that farmers using agricultural pumps of up to 7.5 horsepower will see their historical electricity dues completely wiped out. The announcement was met with the traditional sounding of the Tutari and thunderous applause from hundreds of farmers who had gathered from every corner of the state. The Chief Minister framed the mega-sop as a necessary step to “wipe the farmers’ slate clean,” enabling them to write a new chapter of prosperity. Calculated Pitch The timing and scale of the announcement underscore a government that is boldly embracing populist economics to solidify its political footprint in rural Maharashtra. While Fadnavis maintained that these decisions were taken purely in the interest of the farmers—pointing out that the original loan waiver was announced when no elections were in sight—the political undertones were unmistakable. Taking a sharp dig at the opposition, the Chief Minister accused rival parties of running “political shops” in the name of farmer agitations without understanding the government’s genuine intent. Asserting his grassroots connection, Fadnavis proudly claimed, “I do not make decisions sitting in my house. I am a farmer myself, a man of the soil.” He openly defended the government’s recent move to strip away the stringent conditions attached to the blanket farm loan waiver, signaling that his administration will not hesitate to clear bureaucratic hurdles if it means putting money directly into the hands of the rural voter. Balancing Sops Even as he rained freebies, the Chief Minister attempted to balance the populist optics with a dose of economic pragmatism. He acknowledged that handing out repeated loan waivers is a symptom of deep-rooted agrarian distress, not a permanent cure. Pointing to the Rs 95,000 crore in aid currently being pumped into the agricultural sector by the state and central governments, Fadnavis outlined his administration’s shift toward an investment-driven agricultural model. He championed the success of schemes like ‘Jalyukt Shivar’ and ‘Magel Tyala Shettale’ (farm ponds on demand), claiming these initiatives have already empowered farmers to harvest multiple crops a year. Addressing the core issue of farming costs, he noted that the government already subsidises power to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore annually. By coupling this with a push for solar pumps and solar agricultural feeders, he promised that 100 percent of the state’s farmers would receive uninterrupted daytime electricity by the end of the year. Infra Dream Looking beyond immediate financial relief, the Chief Minister laid out a grandiose vision to permanently drought-proof Maharashtra’s most vulnerable regions. A staggering Rs 6 lakh crore infrastructure pipeline is being planned to ensure the next generation never witnesses a drought. Fadnavis detailed ambitious river-linking projects, including the Wainganga-Nalganga link, to divert excess floodwaters to parched regions. The state plans to construct 24 new dams and raise the height of 16 existing ones to ensure not a single district in Vidarbha faces water scarcity. Furthermore, massive engineering feats are on the drawing board to divert 200 TMC of floodwater from Western Maharashtra to Marathwada, and lift 275 TMC of wasted water from the Ulhas basin to quench the thirst of North Maharashtra and Marathwada. By marrying immediate, massive debt relief with long-term infrastructure promises, the Fadnavis administration is aggressively cementing its pro-farmer narrative. As the Yashwantrao Chavan auditorium echoed with whistles and cheers, it became highly evident that the government’s strategy of pairing mega populist waivers with big-ticket rural dreams is striking a powerful chord with the state’s agrarian voters.

SS (UBT)’s inbox and outbox

Quaid Najmi
Jun 17
6 min read

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena (UBT) is currently experiencing a second political earthquake in three years with an erosion of its base and a crisis of credibility, with a question mark over its future. A brief profile of the MPs in the current turmoil and those who remain loyal to ex-CM and party Chief Uddhav Thackeray.

SS (UBT)’s nine Lok Sabha MPs elected in 2024:

Anil Desai (Mumbai South Central), Arvind Sawant (Mumbai South), Bhausaheb Wakchaure (Shirdi), Nagesh Patil Ashtikar (Hingoli), Omprakash Nimbalkar (Dharashiv), Rajabhau Waze (Nashik), Sanjay Deshmukh (Yavatmal-Washim), Sanjay Jadhav (Parbhani), Sanjay Dina Patil (Mumbai North East)

The ‘Dirty Half-Dozen’

Sanjay Dina-Patil: A two-time MP and seasoned Mumbai politician, Sanjay Dina Patil (57) is known for strong grassroots connect in eastern suburbs. His electoral journey started with the (undivided) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) when he won the Bhandup Assembly seat in 2004. He entered Lok Sabha in 2009 defeating Bharatiya Janata Party’s sitting MP, Kirit Somaiya (Mumbai North-East). In 2019, he joined the (undivided) Shiv Sena and remained loyal to Uddhav Thackeray even after the June 2022 split. He was re-elected in 2024, trouncing BJP’s Mihir Kotecha. Hailing from a political family, his father Dina Bama-Patil was a trade unionist and MLA, while his mother Manorama Patil served nine-terms as a BMC Municipal Corporator.

Sanjay Jadhav: Among one of Marathwada’s most experienced grassroots Shiv Sena leaders, Sanjay “Bandu” Jadhav is a two-term MLA and three-time MP from Parbhani. He came to prominence during Balasaheb Thackeray’s era, built a strong base in state politics before aspiring for a national role. He bagged Parbhani Lok Sabha seat in 2014, 2019 and 2024, but remained loyal to Shiv Sena (UBT) after the June 2022 split. His absence from certain key party meetings in recent times had fuelled speculation about his political plans, worrying the party top brass as Parbhani remained one of its strongest bastions in Marathwada for decades.

Sanjay Deshmukh: Vidarbha veteran politician Sanjay “Sanjubhau” Deshmukh boasts of a long and varied political career of over three decades, serving the party as its Yavatmal district President. However, he contested and won the Digras Assembly seat as an Independent in 1999 and 2004. He served as a Minister of State in the erstwhile Congress-NCP Democratic Front governments headed by Vilasrao Deshmukh and Sushilkumar Shinde. But after the 2022 Shiv Sena split, he returned to the Uddhav Thackeray faction that hugely boosted the party’s prospects in Vidarbha. Proving soothsayers right, he bagged the Yavatmal-Washim parliament seat as a SS (UBT) candidate, defeating Shiv Sena candidate Rajshri Patil in 2024.

Nagesh Patil Ashtikar: A Marathwada strongman with strong roots in the cooperative sector, Nagesh Bapurao Patil-Ashtikar first entered the Maharashtra Assembly in 2014, winning the Hadgaon seat in Nanded district as a (undivided) Shiv Sena candidate. Though he failed to repeat in the 2019 Assembly election, he remained at the forefront and contested Hingoli as a SS (UBT) candidate in 2024, trouncing Shiv Sena’s Baburao Kadam.

Bhausaheb Wakchaure: Bhausaheb Wakchaure, who represents the reserved Shirdi Lok Sabha constituency, is a familiar political figure in Ahilyanagar district and first entered Parliament in 2009 as a Shiv Sena candidate, defeating RPI(A) strongman Ramdas Athawale. Just before the 2014 elections, he switched to the Congress but lost the polls. A decade later in 2024, Wakchaure staged a smashing return as a SS (UBT) candidate, vanquishing MP Sadashiv Lokhande of Shiv Sena, to emerge as a key political player in the region.

Omprakash “Om Raje” Nimbalkar: One of the younger faces in state politics, Omprakash Bhupalsinh alias Omraje Nimbalkar, 42, first won the Osmanabad Assembly seat in 2009 before spreading his wings in national politics. In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, he defeated Ranajagjitsinh Padamsinh Patil and remained with Uddhav Thackeray after the 2022 Shiv Sena split. He was re-elected from Osmanabad in 2024, crushing Archana Ranajagjitsinh Patil. As admitted by him, Nimbalkar’s political career has been shaped by a long-standing family feud - his father, Congress leader Pawanraje Nimbalkar, was murdered in 2006. The sensational case led to the arrest of former minister Padamsinh Patil, a powerful relative and the murder trial verdict is awaited this weekend.

Left-over Loyalists

Arvind Sawant: Hailing from a middle-class family the now dapper Arvind Sawant joined student politics in 1968, then worked with the MTNL as an engineer and in 1995, he took VRS to join the (undivided) Shiv Sena. He was elected as MLC twice but lost in the third attempt and was fielded in the 2014 Lok Sabha from the prestigious Mumbai South when he defeated Milind M. Deora – ex-Congress central minister and currently a Shiv Sena Rajya Sabha MP – and later Yamini Jadhav of Shiv Sena in 2024.

He served briefly as a Union Minister under PM Narendra Modi before quitting to throw his lot with the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) formed after the 2024 Assembly elections. An educated face of the party, close to the Thackeray family and his proficiency in multiple languages, he served as the party Spokesperson.

Anil Desai: A low-profile long-time busy backroom boy of the (undivided) Shiv Sena and later, the SS (UBT) the sophisticated and soft-spoken Anil Desai is regarded as a close Thackeray family advisor, for his strategies, expertise in managing elections, legal matters and as a behind-the-curtains tactician. His prowess in managing the party’s resources and coining slogans like ‘UTha Maharashtra’ (Wake up, Maharashtra), he was rewarded with two terms in Rajya Sabha (2012-2018), and later given a Lok Sabha ticket in 2024 when he defeated Shiv Sena’s Rahul Shewale.

Rajabhau Waje: Hailing from an illustrious political family, Rajabhau Waje’s grandfather, Shankar Balaji Waje was a MLA (1962) from Sinnar, his grandmother Mathurabai Waje was the first woman Mayor of Sinnar Nagar Parishad in 1953, who later quit to plunge into the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement when she was jailed. Rajabhau Waje, active among the farmers, was elected as MLA in 2014 but lost the seat in 2019. In 2024, he was given a ticket by Shiv Sena (UBT) from Nashik in which he defeated Shiv Sena’s strongman Hemant Godse.

Raut alleges MPs are being offered Rs 50 crore to defect

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday alleged that some MPs from Maharashtra were being offered Rs 50 crore to switch sides, and challenged dissidents to quit.

Holding a press conference in New Delhi, Raut said the people of Maharashtra and Shiv Sena (UBT) workers would not remain quiet if there was another split in the Uddhav Thackeray-led party which saw a major rebellion led by Eknath Shinde in 2022.

Even as Raut adopted an aggressive tone, the fact that only three out of the nine Sena (UBT) Lok Sabha members Arvind Sawant, Anil Desai and Rajabhau Waje attended the press conference suggested that the party was facing a grave crisis.

"I was told that the rate is Rs 50 crore, and Rs 15 crore each would be delivered by tonight. They (dissident MPs) were allegedly unwilling to board the aircraft (for Delhi) without receiving the money," he said.

"If parties are being broken in this manner, fighting elections is meaningless," he said.

All Sena (UBT) MPs were elected on the party's "mashal" (torch) symbol under Uddhav Thackeray's leadership, and "nobody has the right to betray that mandate", Raut said.

Warning of a strong response, he said Maharashtra and the Sena (UBT) workers would not remain silent if there was a repeat of the events of 2022 when the undivided Shiv Sena split.

"If anybody wants to leave, they should first resign. They have entered Parliament on our party's ticket," he added.

During the press conference, Raut also lost his cool and used expletives against rebel MPs twice without naming anyone. He asked the media "not to cut" or mute that part.

Notably, this is not the first time that Raut has used expletives at a press conference or in media interactions. He had asked mediapersons not to cut his expletives or mute them during the broadcast on such occasions.

These MPs were elected because of Uddhav Thackeray and late (Shiv Sena founder) Bal Thackeray, not because of Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, said Raut.

"We have issued a whip and convened our parliamentary party meeting. We have also written to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Buying and breaking elected representatives is against democracy and the Constitution. A legal battle will follow. It is not so easy. Anyone who thinks that a few people can gather and settle matters through money is mistaken," he said.

“The verdict in the 20-year-old murder case of the Om Raje Nimbalkar’s father was earlier scheduled to be delivered on Wednesday. He (Nimbalkar) was allegedly told that if he wanted a favourable verdict in the murder case of his father, he should join their group. If such things are happening, what remains of the (sanctity of) Constitution, the courts and democracy? Tomorrow's parliamentary party meeting will reveal the situation. Everyone has been invited and everyone should attend.”

Sanjay Raut, MP, Shiv Sena (UBT)

“If someone feels he is facing injustice, he can approach the party which has a system to listen to grievances and resolve them. There are people who have become MPs and MLAs multiple times. What more the party should give them? We are standing together and this (split) will not happen among MLAs.”

Rahul Patil, MLA, Shiv Sena (UBT)

“The people had voted against the BJP, but these MPs have disregarded that mandate and gone and sat in the BJP's lap.”

Varsha Gaikwad, President, Mumbai Congress