ED Raj reigns supreme as Shinde-Fadnavis regime completes a month

It’s been a month since Eknath Shinde took over as Chief Minister of Maharashtra. He and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis have been running a two-member government without a cabinet.

The duo has made sure to quieten the Opposition and reversed a few important decisions of the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. It re-appointed Ashwini Bhide (IAS) as head of Mumbai metro project, shifted the Metro-3 car shed from Kanjurmarg to Aarey Colony, gave the green signal for land acquisition in Palghar for Samruddhi Expressway, and cleared land acquisition for the bullet train project. Interestingly, these decisions were taken within hours of assuming power.

The cabinet expansion, meanwhile, is on complete hold, and neither leader in the two-member government is giving a concrete reason for the delay. Speculation is rife on which conflict is the reason for the delay — the one within the rebel faction of Shiv Sena, comprising 39 legislators, or the internal conflict in the BJP, or the conflict between these two parties.

Meanwhile, cases have been filed in the Supreme Court regarding this political controversy. Narhari Zirwal, the Maharashtra Assembly Deputy Speaker, has issued a  notice of disqualification against 16 legislators including Shinde.

Early polls on the cards?

There is, however, a strong belief that the BJP wants to form a new government and will call for elections in Maharashtra along with the Gujarat polls, towards the end of this year. Till then, the BJP is happy to charge ahead with its agenda, while the Centre uses its various investigating agencies to hound Opposition leaders in the state and haul them off to jail. One obvious example is the loyal Shiv Sena MP and editor of party mouthpiece Saamana, Sanjay Raut.

Also read: Explained: Sanjay Raut’s case and ED’s money-laundering probe

An immense fear of the Enforcement Directorate has pushed the Opposition into a dark corner. The Congress, the NCP and the Shiv Sena don’t even constitute a strong unified Opposition.

A few individuals from these parties, independently, have condemned, questioned, and pointed out the unconstitutionality of the political events that transpired in the state. But, there is no formidable Opposition presence anymore in Maharashtra.

From the time the MVA at the state and BJP at the Centre got into conflicts, we have witnessed belligerent Central agencies unleashing their drama of investigations. Prominent leaders and strong voices of the Opposition have been deliberately targeted by the NIA, CBI and ED, among others.

Allegations have been slapped on most leaders and it is public knowledge that anyone who speaks up will be put behind bars by the ED. The whataboutery brigade points to the fact that things were no different during Congress rule, when the CBI would routinely chase Opposition leaders. However, the BJP has taken this vindication to an altogether new level.

Loud and clear

Their message is loud and clear — if anyone goes out to malign them and mess with them, even if they are right, the government will ensure they are in jail and silenced.

This fear is not unfounded. In the initial days of NDA rule, one saw for the first time ever in this country, intellectuals, writers, journalists, professors, and civil society members being jailed over the flimsiest of charges. Over a period, all Opposition leaders who were speaking up against the wrongdoing of the Central agencies — like Nawab Malik did against the devious ways of the Narcotics Control Bureau — were jailed.

Also read: Modi-BJP’s ambitious plans may encounter a stumbling block in South

The ED is the sharpest weapon being used against all the political leaders of Maharashtra. Sadly, Shard Pawar, the politician whose brainchild it was to bring three opposing ideological parties — Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena — together, has been of no help to his own party leaders and those of the MVA.

Malik continues to face the money laundering case with a new date at every hearing. In fact, early this year, Eknath Khadse, the former revenue minister in the BJP-Sena government who later joined the NCP, recorded his statement as witness against Rashmi Shukla, senior IPS officer accused of tapping phones of politicians. The cellphones of Khadse and Raut were tapped from 2019, when the MVA government was formed.

Witch-hunting Opposition leaders

The ED has been chasing the leaders Malik, Khadse, and now Raut, alleging land grabbing fraud. In all the three cases, there are women complainants who have accused them of taking payment through illegal means. They have charged Malik under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for allegedly usurping Kurla property, alleging that “members of the D-Gang and Nawab Malik connived together.”

The manner in which he was arrested and the most recent arrest of Raut have put legislators of this state in a quandary. There are rumours now that leaders from the Congress and NCP are likely to join the BJP because of this very fear of being chased by the ED and facing jail. The names of leaders are being openly discussed.

In fact, in the case of Raut, an audio recording went viral prior to his arrest. In the recorded audio, a voice closely resembling that of Raut is heard abusing a lady caller. The highly enraged voice used the choicest of expletives and, at the end, was heard asking the lady to sign off a piece of property and hand it over to him.

Also read: Shinde’s coronation, not an aberration; it’s part of BJP’s big game plan

The Supreme Court, under the Indian Evidence Act, has specifications on how and when electronic evidence can be used. In this case, it is alleged that  the voice recording has been used as a threat. Moreover, the Act states, if a crime is recorded through an electronic gadget, it can be used as a source of fact. But, most importantly, the voice will have to be identified properly or else it will be rejected.

These cases, however, need to reach a conclusive end, which in the current scenario one cannot expect. We have seen how all our democratic institutions have been diluted and ‘managed’ rather well. The delays in courts suit the ruling party, which is happy to pass policy decisions without a full-fledged cabinet.

The BJP is more than happy to keep a showcase CM, whose dream is fulfilled, while his deputy completes the tasks issued by his party superiors. None of the Shiv Sena leaders has been speaking up as vociferously as Raut. Who would have thought one day the Sena would be defending Malik? Times have definitely changed along with Indian politics.

Sena’s optics vs street fight

Raut played the optics rather well. He had been saying for many months that he was being targeted like the many other leaders from the MVA constituent parties. After intense grilling by the ED, the video of him hugging his mother warmly, telling her to be brave, and his family members weeping went viral. If this emotional quotient was not enough, one would never have imagined that a clenched-fisted Shiv Sainik would put his arms up to display bravado.

This is politically more significant than the old violent tactics and the saffron Sena’s ideology of taking to the streets. These are absolutely new times that the country is witnessing, and is one of its kind in the history of India.

The Maharashtra municipal elections, too, are being postponed, as the decision to reserve wards for OBC seats has again put political parties on the  back foot. There currently seems little headway in the present political imbroglio except for politicians to lie low and forget their political careers or jump the boat and strike a compromise with the BJP.

The BJP is not aiming for an authentic government or any democratic governance. One-party rule with no opposition and the constant fear of being sent to jail — this is now no more the problem of just Maharashtra. It is a national political crisis, this restrictive and prohibitive kind of a political situation, which is worse than Emergency.

(The writer is an award winning independent journalist.)

(The Federal seeks to present views and opinions from all sides of the spectrum. The information, ideas or opinions in the articles are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Federal)