In a massive political twist, Devendra Fadnavis returned as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra with Ajit Pawar as its deputy. It is still unclear whether the move by the NCP leader with the consent of supremo Sharad Pawar or the party is heading for a split. Under such circumstances, it is being reported that the Congress party has decided to lock up its MLAs in Madhya Pradesh until the 30th of November.
JUST IN: Congress to shift its MLAs out of Maharashtra and likely to Madhya Pradesh until trust vote on Nov 30. #MaharastraPolitics
It is also being reported that the Shiv Sena, the Congress party and the NCP are mulling the idea of keeping all their MLAs together. It is pertinent to mention here that an alliance between the three parties never officially materialized, therefore, keeping all their MLAs together at one place will certainly be a show of intent. Regardless, it appears that the return of ‘Resort Politics’ could very well be upon us again.
The last time ‘Resort Politics’ made a return was during the Karnataka elections when the BJP had emerged as the single largest party. It is pertinent to mention here that during the drama, two Congress politicians engaged in mortal combat where one of them smashed a bottle on the other’s head.
Given the fact that the three parties are now considering keeping all their MLAs together, a repeat of what happened in Karnataka cannot be ruled out; especially considering the fact that the three parties have a history of enmity between themselves. Moreover, trouble seems to be brewing within the NCP as well, therefore, the parties involved may have to take necessary precautions before embarking on such a venture. However, it appears almost certain that the parties will definitely park their MLAs in some resort.
A video has surfaced wherein a man is seen attacking another who has a burning book in his hand, thereafter the mob is seen going into a frenzy and police intervening to stop the skirmish. The crowd from behind the barricades can he heard hooting.
This footage had been shot in the city of Kristiansand in Norway where a leader of a group, which has been holding rallies against the Islamification of Norway, was attacked initially by a Muslim man then subsequently by a mob for defying the police orders against burning the Quran.
According to reports, Lars Thorsen, the leader of an organisation named Stop Islamization of Norway (SIAN) burnt a copy of the Quran while two copies of the religious text (The Holy Quran) were thrown in a trash can during the rally.
The rally had been approved by local authorities, but police had warned SIAN against desecrating the Quran after the group said it planned to do so.
The action infuriated counter-protesters, who vaulted over the barricades and attacked the SIAN’s leader. The demonstration soon took an ugly turn and the Norwegian police were seen intervening, trying to calm down the situation.
The video of the confrontation shows Thorsen tossing away a burning Quran as a Muslim man, reportedly named Ilyas comes charging at him. The man manages to grab Thorsen’s jacket, jerking him around. However, the assailant falls to the ground after attempting to kick the anti-Islam activist. Police then scuttles to break up the fight as the mob is seen rushing at Thorsen.
Both Thorsen and his attackers were detained by police, according to media reports.
Meanwhile, the Muslim organisations in Norway have announced that they plan to press hate crime charges against the SIAN leader for burning their holy book as well as for verbal assault. Twitter users have also accused the Norwegian government and authorities to ignite religious hatred and humiliate Muslims.
After losing out on the opportunity of forming a government in Maharashtra, NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray addressed a joint press conference on Saturday along with other senior party leaders on Saturday.
In an early morning twist, BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis had sworn in as Maharashtra chief minister for a second time at Raj Bhavan. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar was sworn in as deputy chief minister of Maharashtra.
Addressing a joint press conference with Uddhav Thackeray in Mumbai, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar said that his nephew Ajit Pawar’s decision to join hands with the BJP was an act of indiscipline, and no NCP worker is in favour of this government.
“Except for Ajit Pawar, none of the other NCP MLAs went for the swearing-n the ceremony. A true NCP member will never ever join hands with the BJP.” said Pawar.
Sharad Pawar added that the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance is still active and all the elected MLAs have given their support to this alliance. “Some people of the NCP called me in the morning saying that they have reached Raj Bhawan along with Ajit Pawar,” said Sharad Pawar.
The NCP supremo said that there will action against Ajit Pawar. He added that the decision on action against Ajit Pawar will be taken at the party meeting later today.
“Our discipline committee will take action against all those who have participated in the swearing-in ceremony today. All the MLAs who are going must know that there is an anti-defection law and the possibility of them losing their assembly membership is high,” Sharad Pawar added.
Sharad Pawar also said that the Congress, Shiv Sena and NCP leaders had come together to form Government and had the numbers that had supported the new government. “Several independents were also with us and we had numbers around 170,” he added.
Pawar also added that they cannot rule out a possibility of “cheating by the governor”. Ajit Pawar may have submitted ‘ready-made’ list of NCP MLAs, he added.
Four-time NCP MLA Rajendra Shingane said that they were “misled” by Ajit Pawar. He added, “None of us there had any idea of what was happening, we were taken to Raj Bhawan by Ajit Pawar. This was the case of misunderstanding and of not knowing what was really going on.”
Another NCP MLA Sandeep Shivsagar echoed similar statements after he said, “We did not know anything about the oath-taking ceremony. As soon as the swearing-in happened I called up Sharad Pawar”.
Continuing his attack on the BJP, Pawar said that saffron party has always believed in forming an alliance with anyone and in any manner to come to power. But NCP can never join hands with BJP, said Sharad Pawar.
“We are firm that the leadership of this government should stay with Shiv Sena. Governor has given time till 30th to prove majority. We will all be together with them. Congress leaders were to come, but their LLP meeting is today. So they gave gone there,” added Sharad Pawar.
Speaking at the press conference, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray launched an attack on its former ally BJP, stating, “The child play in the name of democracy is laughable. They should stick Fevicol and sit there. Instead of saying, I will come back, he should have said, I won’t ever go.” Uddhav added that the BJP did the same thing in Haryana and Bihar.
Thackeray added that the BJP did not want opposition or friends. They are narcissistic. Nobody should try to backstab us, said Shiv Sena chief who was visibly angry at the BJP.
Calling the BJP government formation as a ‘furgical strike’, Uddhav Thackeray asked the BJP not to “ploy midnight plots”.
“Earlier EVM Khel (game) was going on and now this is new Khel (game). From here onwards I don’t think elections are even needed. Everyone knows what Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj did when betrayed and attacked from the back,” said Uddhav Thackeray.
Senior Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam has been apprehensive about the party’s proposed alliance with the Shiv Sena from the very beginning. According to him, it wasn’t a very good idea and there would be political instability in the state if such an alliance were to be formed. Considering the recent political developments in Maharashtra, it appears Sanjay Nirupam has been vindicated. And he is certainly furious.
Sanjay Nirupam said, “People may be thinking I will be happy by today’s developments, but I am actually very sad. Congress has been unnecessarily defamed in this and exploring an alliance with Shiv Sena was a mistake. I appeal to Sonia ji to dissolve the Congress Working Committee (CWC) at once.” He also believes that the alliance has been formed with full knowledge of NCP supremo Sharad Pawar. He stated, “How did Sharad Pawar ji not know when so many of his MLAs signed the letter of support? Why did he go and meet the PM all on his own? For the sake of farmers? Who would go alone for such a cause?”
Even senior leaders such as Mallikarjuna Kharge and Ahmed Patel were not spared by Sanjay Nirupam. He said, “People who sit in the CWC, I want to ask them, do you have enough knowledge about Maharashtra politics? People like Ahmed Patel, K.C. Venugopal, who was involved in the negotiations, they don’t have much knowledge about Maharashtra, they are based in Delhi.”
Sanjay Nirupam continued, “The person who knew the most was Mallikarjuna Khadge, what input did he provide to the leadership of the Congress party, the CWC? Why was there such a massive hole in his input? Why did he not emphasize the fact that any such move will be disastrous for the Congress party?” “Today, such questions have to be asked,” he added.
When Devendra Fadnavis took oath as Chief Minister and Ajit Pawar was appointed the Deputy CM, Sanjay Nirupam’s concerns were validated. Until now, the Congress party was prepared to compromise with its core ideology in order to secure power in Maharashtra. But it has come back to bite them. The leadership of the party again appears clueless and all the senior leaders of the party have been made to look like clowns by Amit Shah.
The Congress party has been suffering from a leadership crisis even though Sonia Gandhi came back to serve as the interim president of the party. Rahul Gandhi appears as disinterested as the day he decided to join politics. Complaints regarding the CWC has been made earlier as well and Sanjay Nirupam’s words echo the sentiments that have been voiced by various others within the party.
The Congress party faces a serious threat of being relegated to irrelevance. And unfortunately for them, they do not appear to have anyone in their midst to combat the ruthlessness of the Modi-Shah duo. If the results of the three state elections towards the end of 2018 it won last year are ignored, the Congress party has suffered a continuous decline in its fortunes. And despite the numerous defeats, there has been no attempt at all on their part to make structural changes within their ranks. Under such circumstances, the resurgence of the party appears to be a distant fantasy.
The Maharashtra Tragicomedy finally appears to have come to a close today. Devendra Fadnavis has returned as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra with senior NCP leader Ajit Pawar as the Deputy Chief Minister. Along the many twists and turns, some people stick out like a sore thumb as the biggest losers in the whole ruckus. In this article, we look at some of them.
1. Sanjay Raut
A prominent part of Sanjay Raut’s daily routine was to remind everyone through the media or social media that the next Chief Minister would be from Shiv Sena. He declared that Shiv Sena will have its Chief Minister of Maharashtra at any cost. The alarm bells should have started ringing when the Shiv Sena failed to show the requisite letters of support when they were invited to form the government by the Governor. Conveniently enough, Sanjay Raut at that moment was at the hospital.
Meanwhile, Raut is having a severe meltdown on Twitter. He doesn’t appear to be doing too well. One wonders how the other leaders of the Shiv Sena feel about him. They were all led down a rabbit hole by Raut and in the end, they were left with nothing in their hands to show for it. Raut flew too close to the stars and his political career turned into ashes.
2. Uddhav Thackeray
Uddhav Thackeray had a comfortable alliance going for him with its traditional partner. They fought the Maharashtra elections together, secured a comfortable majority in the Assembly and then disaster struck. It’s unclear whether Uddhav bought into the fancy tales of glory sold to him by Sanjay Raut or the latter was merely carrying out his master’s wishes. In the end, they have been made to look like clowns of the highest order.
The lowest point surely was when the Shiv Sena met the Governor in its attempt to form an alliance with the NCP and Congress but were left in the lurch without any letters of support. Then, Uddhav Thackeray ran from pillar to post in his bid to secure an alliance but to no avail. He could have led a political career with dignity with Devendra Fadnavis in the lead but then, a snake oil salesman came along and fed delusions of grandeur in his ears. Or was it him all along?
3. Arvind Sawant
This man was a Minister in the Modi government. Then, Sanjay Raut and Uddhav Thackeray had delusions of grandeur and they made him suffer for it. Sanjay Raut will be advised to stay clear of Arvind Sawant’s path for the next few weeks. Otherwise, the stay at the hospital could be much longer this time around.
People who believe this is an exaggeration should remember what happened between Congress MLAs in Karnataka. During the political drama that had erupted in the state, two Congress leaders ended up fighting with each other and one of them hit the other one with a bottle. So such things are not of the realm of possibilities. And as we have seen, in politics, anything can happen.
Moreover, the Shiv Sena has been spending a lot of time with the Congress lately. Therefore, some of its MLAs may have imbibed some of the Congress cultures. And it’s unclear by the way whether the Shiv Sena still remains a Hindutva party or has turned into a secular one.
4. Sharad Pawar
Although this could be a dodgy as the entire thing could very well have been planned with the consent of Sharad Pawar himself, there doesn’t appear to be any indication of it. Supriya Sule is reported to have posted a WhatsApp status that says there has been a split within the family and the party. Sharad Pawar has also said that this wasn’t the decision of the party. Regardless of what happens afterwards, today, he has been made to look like a fool.
Sharad Pawar was all hyped up and he was supposed to be the ‘Wily Fox’ who brought the march of the ‘Chanakya’ of Indian Politics to a halt but today, it appears he has been outfoxed entirely. All those who believed that he still ran the roost in Maharashtra are obviously mistaken. Sharad Pawar has been made to bow before the might of the Modi-Shah duo.
5. The ‘Neutral’ Media
Rajdeep Sardesai appears personally affected by the turn of events. He was so dumbstruck that he was finding it difficult to get words out of his mouth on national television. Journalists have never been known to be neutral but their partisanship was unbearable during the entire saga. They were salivating at the prospect of a Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance.
Nikhil Wagle was waxing eloquence on how the Shiv Sena was not exactly ‘Hindutva-Hindutva’ but only ‘Hindutva-Hindutva’ and so, the Congress shouldn’t hesitate to ally with the party. Arun Giri, reputed to be the first ‘election junkie’ in history who has never ever made an accurate prediction in his life, was desperate to see an alliance materialize between the three non-BJP parties.
Some were more partisan than others but there was partisanship across the spectrum. ‘Neutral’ journalists were openly trying to egg Congress towards an alliance with the Shiv Sena. Apart from the usual suspects, it’s these journalists and their credibility who have been dealt another crushing defeat.
Five days into the Parliament’s winter session, which commenced on November 18, and Congress Supremo Rahul Gandhi who is a member of parliament from Wayanad constituency chooses to remain absent. His absence from the Parliament’ winter session for five consecutive days have raised several questions. BJP MP Jagdambika Pal questioned Gandhi’s absence and commented that the attitude of young leaders like Rahul Gandhi towards the Parliament is quite disappointing.
“These are youth leaders. They should come to the House. Even being so old, we are regularly present in the House and remain active in our constituencies as well. The attitude of these young leaders is very disappointing, the public elects and sends us to Parliament, so that, we raise their issues in the House and find some solutions. But Rahul Gandhi is often found missing from the House,” he said.
During the first five days, several important issues and bills, including the Chit Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2019, which was moved, discussed and passed in the lower house Moreover, issues like air pollution in Delhi-NCR, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, withdrawal of SPG security cover to Gandhi family, and electoral bonds were raised and discussed in the Parliament which Rahul Gandhi could not be a part of since he chose to remain absent.
Even during the first session of the newly elected Parliament and the 17th Lok Sabha, Congress President Rahul Gandhi did not attend the parliament, raising questions over his respect for democratic values and traditions.
Apart from this, the Congress supremo has many a time been caught disrespecting the Parliamentary protocols. He ran into a controversy when he was caught using his mobile phone during President’s address to the joint session of Parliament on June 20, 2019. During the entire presidential speech which was telecast live by Lok Sabha TV and several other News channels, Rahul Gandhi was seen busy with his mobile phone several times.
Rahul Gandhi’s ‘infamous winks’ during the parliament sessions is yet another example of the ‘entitled prince’’ disregard for the supreme legislative body which has attracted severe criticisms and mockery in the past.
However, Rahul’s buffoonery is not limited to only his ‘hugs and winks’. Earlier, in 2016, Rahul Gandhi, who was the party vice-president then, was caught taking a ‘nap’ in Lok Sabha.
The Banaras Hindu University has been embroiled in a massive controversy. For the past fortnight, students of the Dharma Vigyan Department have been protesting against the appointment of a Muslim professor in SVDV. It seems their protest has been paid heed to. Dr Firoz Khan has now applied to the Ayurveda Department of BHU. His interview is set to be held on the 29th of November 2019.
Dr Firoz Khan shortlisted for interview in Ayurveda Department
There is no vacancy for Sanskrit teacher in the Arts Faculty’s Sanskrit department, but there is one in Ayurveda department where Dr Firoz can apply and be selected. Then, he will resign from SVDV as he has already joined through the office of VC, formally. It is seen as a move to end the whole fiasco which has escalated and reached even the PMO. At present, students are marching from Singh Dwar to Ravindra Puri‘s PMO to submit their memorandum.
On one hand, this move is seen as a personal decision of Dr Feroze Khan who might have had too much of this controversy and thinks this as the best possible way, while on the other hand, students believe this is a face-saving move by the administration to end the whole fiasco altogether.
This development comes after yesterday, the BHU SVDV students had said that they were temporarily ending their ‘dharna’ but will continue to boycott classes and examinations till the administration responds to their questions. The students had forwarded certain questions to the administration and the BHU administration, in turn, had asked for 10 days to respond. It was also reported yesterday that the Prime Minister’s Office had got involved in trying to smooth tensions.
The PMO had asked for a detailed report of the protests in BHU. At the same time, Shankaracharya had also written a letter to the PMO about the student’s demands. The students had also said while putting their dharna on pause that they are slated to meet the Prime Minister’s Office today to submit a letter of their demands.
The BHU students of the Dharma Vigyan department have been protesting the appointment of a Muslim professor, Dr Firoz Khan, in the Dharma Vigyan department. A professor of Sanskrit, Dr Khan was appointed in the theology department of BHU instead of the Arts department which teaches Sanskrit purely as a linguistic subject. In the Dharma Vigyan Department, even Sanskrit is learnt with an interpretation of theology and hence, the students were demanding that only a practising Hindu be allowed to teach them in the Dharma Vigyan department.
As a faction of NCP and the BJP pulled up a political coup in Maharashtra to form the government, the ‘neutral journalists’ and the ‘secular-liberals’ members of the Congress-backed ecosystem seems to have lost their last hope of keeping BJP out of power in Maharashtra.
With BJP ditching its former alliance partner Shiv Sena to join hands with a section of Congress ally NCP, the meltdown of the ecosystem has already begun.
Rajdeep Sardesai, the Michelangelo of Indian journalism, was the one who seemed too upset with Ajit Pawar-BJP alliance. For Rajdeep Sardesai, the newly formed alliance between Pawar and the BJP is a double blow as first of all, BJP has retained the power in Maharashtra. The second reason for Rajdeep’s agony is Congress losing out an opportunity to be in power in the state.
Taking to Twitter to vent out his frustration, Rajdeep Sardesai launched his attack on Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, insinuated that Fadnavis’ reputation as an anti-corruption crusader was at stake after joining hands with Ajit Pawar, who is alleged to be involved in a scam.
Interestingly, Rajdeep had never mentioned or tweeted regarding the issue of corruption cases against Pawar, when NCP had hinted at forming an alliance with Shiv Sena and the Congress. As Pawar has now joined hands with the BJP, the scams allegedly committed by him seems to have resurfaced in the memories of Rajdeep Sardesai.
Devendra Fadnavis made his reputation as an anti corruption crusader by ‘exposing’ Ajit Pawar’s alleged irrigation dept corruption!! Today, Fadnavis CM and Ajit Pawar as his deputy!! This is a Maha twist if ever there was one!! Now to wait to see what Sharad Pawar has to say!!
Rajdeep Sardesai did not stop there. He soon began to deliver moral science lectures for all the political parties of Maharashtra. Sardesai lectured that BJP should never again lecture on corruption again, while the Cong should not lecture on ‘secularism’ and the Sena should not sermonise on Hindutva. He added that he did not have any moral lectures for the Pawars and NCP, as there is only ideology in politics today – ‘Opportunism’.
Moral of events in Maharashtra: the BJP should never again lecture on corruption, the Cong should not lecture on secularism and the Sena should not sermonise on Hindutva. And NCP? Well, what does one say about the Pawars now!! There is only ideology in politics.. OPPORTUNISM!
Swati Chaturvedi, a troll masquerading as a ‘journalist’, who was till yesterday praising NCP supremo Sharad Pawar for his ‘masterstroke’ for keeping BJP out of power in Maharashtra and teaching a lesson to Amit Shah and PM Modi, on Saturday took a U-turn to blame Pawar for the failure of Shiv Sena-NCP and Congress alliance. She claimed that Pawar betrayed Thackeray and Congress to join hands with the BJP.
Nikhil Wagle, who claims to be a ‘journalist’, also suffered a massive meltdown after Ajit Pawar and BJP came together to form the Maharashtra government. Similar to Rajdeep Sardesai, Nikhil Wagle seems to be suffering from selective amnesia as he too has suddenly remembered that Ajit Pawar has been accused of involving in an irrigation scam.
Wagle questioned Devendra Fadnavis on how could he dump his ‘morality and anti-corruption’ plank to support Ajit Pawar.
Dear @Dev_Fadnavis, you ran a campaign against @AjitPawarSpeaks and NCP on irrigation scam. Now you are allying with him. Did you dump your so-called morality and anti-corruption plank? Is this not hypocrisy? #Maharashtragovernmentformation
Nikhil Wagle’s frustration was evident after he attacked Prime Minister Modi as he wished success for the new BJP-Pawar coalition government in Maharashtra
The best meltdown tweet day came from none other than Vir Sanghvi, who went all the way down to narrate a story to refer Sharad Pawar as ‘poison’.
Around six years ago before Rahul became Congress Vice President his mother warned him ‘Pawar is poison’.
He misunderstood completely & made a speech quoting her as saying “power is poison”.
Now they know.? pic.twitter.com/SggNuu9frZ
Till last evening, speculations were rife that the Sena-NCP-Congress alliance formula for Maharashtra is ready and Uddhav Thackeray will be the CM. However, the early morning surprise seems to have shocked not just the political players, but the ‘secular-liberal’ media too. As if the frustration of seeing the BJP in power again was not enough, the developments have also exposed the media’s complete clueless-ness as opposed to earlier governments where even ministerial berths were decided by lobbying journalists.
It is said that art and literature are the reflections of a society and its times. The last few days of Maharashtra’s chaotic political environment has been archived in media reports, TV debates, editorials, statements of political leaders and much more. But if one sits down and think about it, it was only Sanjay Raut’s poetry that has managed to capture all the events, ups, downs, mood swings and confusions of the ‘Maha-drama’.
Raut’s poetry may seem to many as crass Bollywood theatrics. But as the entire nation woke up and saw in the TV that Devendra Fadnavis has become the CM of Maharashtra and thought “What the f***, or other vernacular versions of the sentiment, it was a visibly agitated, shocked, broken and shaken Sanjay Raut, that captured the moment in all its poetic, dramatic glory.
While the entire media, political parties and the public were busy following the blurring developments of Maha politics, it was Raut’s poetry that saluted the emotions, hopes, dreams and dramas of the Shiv Sena flowing through his tweets.
When the election results were announced and Sena thought it would be the king. Raut had tweeted a tiger, depicted wearing a clock and smelling a lotus held in its ‘Panja’, an indication that Sena will now ‘play’ the three parties like a fiddle.
The BJP, however, had made it clear that it will not be blackmailed and will not cede the CM chair to a party that has got merely half the seats as compared to them. Raut had mocked the BJP’s ‘Saheb’ not to have such hubris because many ‘Sikandars’ have perished in the ocean of time. What brilliance of words.
Raut went on ‘sly-Shayaring’ for days, even weeks. He mocked the ‘Saheb’s ego, he derided his heartlessness and wrote down his pain like a jilted one-side lover would cry after the pretty girl had thrown his love letter in the trash can.
Sanjay Raut’s poetry
It is not that Raut sly-tweets only his poetry. Like a true poet, he also regards the works of others and quotes from them when necessary. To convey that the Sena is not doing mere theatrics but doing a favour on the people of Maharashtra by ditching their alliance partner in whose name they had sought votes, Raut had shared Hindi poet Dushyant Kumar’s lines.
While the popular perception is that Raut is heavily inspired by singer Altaf Raja and TV serials, Raut has attempted to dispel the perception. He has quoted Dishyant Kumar ji more than once.
तुम्हारे पांव के नीचे कोई ज़मीन नहीं कमाल है कि, फ़िर भी तुम्हें यक़ीन नहीं…..(There is no ground under your feet, but you just refuse to believe it), Raut had taken another dig quoting Dushyant Kumar Ji’s lines, probably at Devendra, or Sonia, or Sharad Pawar, whoever he was thinking to woo on that particular day.
Since Sena had become determined to form a government, be it with ‘communal’ BJP or ‘Secular’ NCP-Congress, Raut had to keep the secularism well represented in his poetic endeavours too. Quoting just Hindu poets would have been a very communal and regressive thing to do. So Raut had quoted Wasim Barelvi too.
The Sena became so desperate to form the government and grab the CM’s post that it started facing criticism for it. After all, it had entered into a pre-poll alliance, after all, Balasaheb was a big critic of Sonia Gandhi and had shamed those who ‘fall at her feet’. After all. Sena was all about ‘Hindutva’ and here they were seen literally ‘begging’ Congress-NCP to help them get the CM chair. Poetry has the answer to all the dilemmas that the human heart suffers.
रास्ते की परवाह करूँगा तो मंजिल बुरा मान जाएगी………! (If I start caring about the paths taken, the destination will be disappointed), Raut had tweeted then.
The path to CM’s chair, like the ‘Ishq ka Darya,’ is full of thorns and burning ambers. Raut’s Sena was all prepared to sink or swim.
“लहरों से डर कर नौका पार नहीं होती, कोशीश करने वालों की कभी हार नही होती ।’ बच्चन. हम होंगे कामयाब.. जरूर होंगे…(You can’t reach the shores in your boat if you keep fearing the waves, efforts never lose), Raut had tweeted quoting from Bachchan.
Finally, Congress started kinda-sorta looking like coming on board, Uddhav had talked to Congress-NCP leaders. Had even tried to stake a claim and failed miserably as nobody came forward to help. On November 12, the state went under President’s rule as no party managed to stake a claim.
Sena was on a negotiations overdrive. Reports say that it had even agreed to drop the demand for a Bharat Ratna to Savarkar, and its ‘Hindu-image’, however flimsy that image was. Reports also claimed that Sena was ready to bring back the Muslim quota, that it had helped quash when it was in power with BJP.
However, as Raut’s poetry displayed, Shiv Sena was just determined to get that CM post.
Slowly, Sena started seeing the hope that ‘madam’ might agree finally and give the ‘Green’ signal for the post-poll Maha-alliance. Sena did not declare the joy, but poetry said it.
While agreeing for the Muslim quota, Raut probably remembered that he has to allocate a Muslim quota in his ‘sly-Shayaring’ too. After all, the mainstream media and madam’s journalists had already started their attempts to paint the Sena as ‘secular’.
“यारों नए मौसम ने ये एहसान किया है, याद मुझे दर्द पुराने नहीं आते “, Raut had quoted Bashir Badr. He had new friends and he did not need to remember the old pains. However, he had not clarified whether the pain he referred to was caused by the BJP not giving it any ‘bhav’ or the ‘health issue’ he had developed a few days ago.
But the BJP, the heartless lover in Raut’s poetry, was indeed brutal. It had been days, weeks of waiting, but the CM chair was still far, very far from Sena. No definite commitments were being made from the new friends and no one was asking Sena to take the CM chair. Raut’s lines again went the ‘Patthar Ke Sanam’-mode towards BJP’s ‘Saheb’.
तुम से पहले वो जो इक शख़्स यहाँ तख़्त-नशीं था उस को भी अपने ख़ुदा होने पे इतना ही यक़ीं था :- हबीब जालिब. These lines by Habib Zalib were shared by Raut on 18 November. They meant, “The man who sat on this throne before you, had the same disillusionment of being all-powerful.”
Raut has indeed gone through a massively poetic and emotional roller-coaster all these days. After touring the poetic universe searching perfectly framed lines of poets exactly matching his mood for the day, he had recently stumbled upon some lines by Atal Bihar Vajpayee. Thinking of pulling a super-stunt of tweeting irony in the form of a BJP leader’s lines to mock the BJP, Raut had shared Vajpayee’s lines to indicate Sena’s efforts to form the government without the BJP.
आहुति बाकी, यज्ञ अधूरा,
अपनों के विघ्नों ने घेरा,
अंतिम जय का वज्र बनाने, नव दधीचि हड्डियां गलाएं।आओ फिर से दिया जलाएं।
अटल बिहारी वाजपेयी
‘One Shayari-a-day keeps the CM’s chair away’, said nobody. However, Raut’s poetic journey in the turbulent times has provided some much necessary freshness to Twitter users who came up with their own lines, couplets and quotes to hail him.
Yesterday, the ignored one-sided lover had probably finally agreed that the pretty girl will never look at him anyway. His Shayari of the day as the Sena-NCP-Congress continued their meetings had displayed that the poor boy was trying to move on.
The ultimate, box-office breaking, Abbas-Mastan-level suspension was finally coming to an end. By yesterday evening, the newspapers had already announced that Uddhav Thackeray will be the CM. Raut’s pain, and poetic suffering, all that walking through the embers in the ‘Ishq ka Darya’ and all were coming to fruition. Early in the morning, Raut has sly-Shayari-ed the lines that will now be mocked mercilessly by the BJP’s heartless trolls.
Sanjay Raut
However, the old Bollywood of the poor hero being the winner, the sentiments bearing fruit and lovers (Sena and the CM chair in this case) being united has been trashed to history by merciless new movie makers. In the new scheme of things, it is the villain who wins, it is Thanos who gets the last laugh, it is the ‘Saheb’ who swiped in from the sky like Batman and took off with the Kursi.
Raut probably never even got time to look for an appropriate poem in his books. It was just three heart-broken words.
Sanjay Raut
The poet-lover’s poetry has been silenced. As Devendra Fadnavis took an oath with the support of Ajit Pawar as the deputy CM, a shell-shocked Raut was seen cursing, slamming and pouring his heart out at the fresh betrayal. He called Ajit Pawar a back-stabber, a thief, a robber and many more names. For the BJP, he did not even have words hurtful enough.
Raut is still tweeting, but they are only dry statements. The poetry is gone. And with the silencing of Raut’s poetry, Maharashtra politics now looks like just a boring documentary movie. The melodrama, the jingles, songs and the item numbers have all been destroyed by ‘Saheb’.
On Saturday, following the decision of NCP’s Ajit Pawar to join hands with the BJP to form a government in Maharashtra, Sharad Pawar’s daughter and senior NCP leader Supriya Sule has confirmed that the Nationalist Congress Party has split in the middle of a political war.
According to the ANI, Supriya Sule has put up a story on Whatsapp which stated, ‘Party and family split’ indicating that there has been a rebellion within the party after Ajit Pawar joined hands with the BJP.
Supriya Sule’s Whatsapp status also reveals that a difference of opinion may have come between NCP supremo Sharad Pawar and his nephew Ajit Pawar on the issue of forming a government with the BJP. The politics of Maharashtra has not even left the family of the NCP supremo Sharad Pawar untouched.
Supriya Sule, Senior NCP leader and daughter of Sharad Pawar’s latest Whatsapp status,her office confirms statement as well pic.twitter.com/cRksZyrNJK
Reportedly, Ajit Pawar, the nephew of Sharad Pawar is said to have bypassed his uncle Sharad Pawar to ally with the BJP. However, several other reports also quote sources to state that Sharad Pawar was in fact kept in the loop all along. Reportedly, Ajit Pawar enjoys the support of at least 35 lawmakers out of the 54 MLAs.
Meanwhile, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik has said that the letter of support that is being used is wrong. “We had taken signatures from MLAs for attendance, it was misused as a basis for the oath,” said Malik.
Reports suggest that Ajit Pawar collected the signatures of all the NCP MLAs on the party’s letter of support, which was later presented to prove NCP’s support to the BJP.
Following the massive political coup by the BJP, Sharad Pawar had stated that he was unaware of the developments. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar seems to be equally miffed with his nephew Ajit’s decision to join hands with the Bharatiya Janata Party.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday tweeted that Ajit Pawar’s decision to support the BJP was his own and not that of the party. “We place on record that we do not support or endorse this decision of his,” said Sharad Pawar.
“I came to know at 7 am today about Ajit Pawar. I did not know before that. I will hold a press conference at some time. Uddhav too will address the media. I will speak elaborately then,” the NCP chief said, clarifying that it was not his decision.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray have planned to address a joint press conference at 12.30 pm today.
