top of page

By:

Abhijit Mulye

21 August 2024 at 11:29:11 am

Deepening BJP-Sena rift exposed

Mumbai: Corridors of power in Maharashtra are witnessing a growing sense of unease. Stern and quick disciplinary actions against senior bureaucrats are rare in state administration. The recent suspension of a senior IAS officer for failing to brief a minister during an ongoing assembly session has sent shockwaves through the bureaucracy. It has also laid bare the intense power struggle between ruling alliance partners, the BJP and the Shiv Sena. The controversy erupted when presiding officer...

Deepening BJP-Sena rift exposed

Mumbai: Corridors of power in Maharashtra are witnessing a growing sense of unease. Stern and quick disciplinary actions against senior bureaucrats are rare in state administration. The recent suspension of a senior IAS officer for failing to brief a minister during an ongoing assembly session has sent shockwaves through the bureaucracy. It has also laid bare the intense power struggle between ruling alliance partners, the BJP and the Shiv Sena. The controversy erupted when presiding officer Dilip Lande ordered immediate suspension of Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) Member Secretary M. Devendar Singh and Joint Director Satish Padwal. It is an unwritten parliamentary convention that presiding officers refrain from directing such severe administrative actions directly from the chair. However, the environment department acted with unprecedented speed. Sources indicate that the file implementing these suspension orders has already reached Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’ office. Babus Baffled This swift administrative compliance has caused a significant flutter among top officials. Many bureaucrats feel the Fadnavis administration is setting a dangerous precedent. Others quietly admit that the officers simply became collateral damage in a fierce political crossfire. The root of this administrative crisis lies in the fraught relationship between two key political figures. The environment department is headed by BJP Minister Pankaja Munde. Meanwhile, the MPCB is chaired by Shiv Sena leader Siddhesh Kadam. The two leaders reportedly do not see eye to eye. M. Devendar Singh, the suspended IAS officer, is widely considered to be close to senior Shiv Sena minister Sanjay Rathod. During his earlier tenure as the district collector of Ratnagiri, Singh also developed close ties with powerful Sena minister Uday Samant. Bureaucratic circles suggest that Singh was appointed as the MPCB member secretary last year primarily due to strong recommendations from Samant and Sanjay Rathod. Against this backdrop, the political rivalry between Munde and Kadam reached a boiling point. According to an MPCB insider, Kadam allegedly issued oral instructions to board officials ordering them not to share any information with minister Munde or her office without his prior consent. Caught between a hostile chairman and an inquiring minister, officers naturally shied away from providing crucial briefings. Sensing this deliberate blockade of information, frustrated Munde spilled the beans on the floor of the House. She admitted her inability to answer legislators’ questions due to non-cooperative officials. The issue quickly escalated, likely beyond the minister’s own imagination. The presiding officer intervened, and the bureaucrats ultimately bore the brunt of the political dysfunction. Top officials now privately acknowledge that this entire episode is a direct outcome of the shifting power dynamics between the BJP and the Shiv Sena. This incident is not an isolated case of administrative cracking of the whip. Recently, the government initiated strict disciplinary action against an assistant charity commissioner in Gondia simply for participating in a lucky draw without prior permission from her superiors. Together, these incidents are sending a chilling message down the administrative spine. While the government attempts to project an image of strict discipline and accountability, the bureaucracy is increasingly feeling the heat of coalition politics. Officials are now acutely aware that navigating the fragile egos of alliance partners is just as critical as their administrative duties.

Unrest within Mahayuti

Updated: Jan 21, 2025

Mahayuti

Mumbai: The state administration on Sunday stalled the appointments of guardian ministers in Raigad and Nashik districts. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had cleared the appointments before he left for Davos in Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum on Saturday. They are believed to have been stalled on behest of Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who heads the state in absence of the Chief Minister.


NCP’s Aditi Tatkare and BJP’s Girish Mahajan were entrusted with responsibilities of guardian minister for the Raigad and Nashik districts respectively, where Shiv Sena’s Bharat Gogawale and Dada Bhuse had staked claims. Gogawale is a first-time minister while, Bhuse had been the guardian minister of the district during previous government under Eknath Shinde.


Shiv Sena, NCP and BJP all the three constituents of Mahayuti have strong roots in both the districts. However, the Shiv Sena and the NCP had been particularly on loggerheads there. The Shiv Sena, which had been demanding the guardian minister’s post in Nashik district has managed to win only two assembly seats in the district where the NCP has Six and the BJP has Five MLAs. On the contrary, in Raigad the NCP has won only one seat while the Shiv Sena and the BJP both have Three MLAs each in the district.


Sunil Tatkare, MP from Raigad Lok Sabha constituency and the stat unit president of the NCP and father of Aditi Tatkare, had been the guardian minister of Raigad between 2004 and 2014. Gogawale had always been his political opponent before Tatkare joined the Mahayuti government under Ajit Pawar’s leadership in 2023. Gogawale claimed that all the Six Shiv Sena-BJP MLAs in the district had opined in his favour to be the guardian minister of the district and after the decision to appoint Aditi Tatkare was announced, his supporters resorted to violent protests. They burnt tyres in bid to stall traffic on highway in the district. Reacting to the developments, Tatkare said that the issue should be pondered over after CM Fadnavis returns from Davos on Saturday and settled amicably.


In Nashik Girish Mahajan had been the guardian minister of the district between 2014 and 2019 when Fadnavis was the Chief Minister.


The post of guardian minister doesn’t have any constitutional mandate and is considered to be a political appointment. Guardian ministers head the district planning and development councils (DPDC) that control the funds for development works being carried out in the particular district. This control wields much of political power to the minister in that district whereby spreading the party in the district becomes much easier. This is the reason why the grass root politicians seem to be very sensitive to such appointments.


While Gogawale and Bhuse are unhappy about not being appointed as guardian ministers, some others like NCP’s Hasan Mushrif and BJP’s Pankaja Munde are unhappy about not being appointed as guardian district in their home districts of Kolhapur and Beed respectively. DCM Shinde is learnt to have gone to his ancestral village Dare in Satara district after the decision and BJP’s firefighters Chandrashekhar Bawankule and Girish Mahajan are expected to meet him there to try finding a way out of the issue.

Comments

bottom of page