Debate: Not much choice in Maharashtra polls

Maharashtra will be voting on October 13 to elect a new government. The Assembly elections are the first since the 15th Lok Sabha elections that saw the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance Government storming back to power at the Centre.

The Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance has been in power for two consecutive terms in the state and is facing strong challenge from the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena combine. The third major political force in the state is Raj Thackeray’s Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

CNN-IBN’s special show Battle for Maharashtra debated the key issues in the Assembly elections and the choices available before the Maharashtra voters.

The panel included state Chief Minister and Congress leader Ashok Chavan, Shiv Sena MP Bharat Kumar Raut, IBN Lokmat Editor-in-Chief Nikhil Wagle and Loksatta Editor Kumar Ketkar.

Who should the people of Maharashtra vote for and why?

Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan began the debate claiming that the Congress-NCP government has been doing a good job and derives to get another chance.

"We have proved our performance in the last 10 years. In the last five years when we were voted back in power we have improved infrastructure in the state, farmers' problems have been taken care of and power situation in the state has improved to a certain extent. Investments have been coming to Maharashtra and employment generation has taken place in the state. Development is the focus on which we will ask for votes from the people," said Chavan.

Shiv Sena MP Bharat Kumar Raut quickly contradicted Chavan’s claims. Raut said that under the Congress-NCP government Maharashtra has started to lag behind others states on most of the parameters.

"I only wished there was an iota of truth in what he was speaking. In last 10 years Maharashtra has seen the blackest nights. There has been farmers’ suicide everyday. If you calculate every day three farmers have been ending their lives. There is power shortage and eight to 16-hour power cuts all over the state. There is unemployment, corruption, law and order problem. So why should people even think of bringing this government back to power?" Raut asked.

According to some reports Maharashtra has daily electricity shortage of 4,000 megawatts, load shedding ranging from 10-12 hours in rural areas and 3-5 hours in urban areas.

Chavan rubbished the reports claiming that the Congress-NCP government had in fact added more power. He, however, added that more needs to be done on the power front in the state.

"There is no shortage of 4,000 megawatts. The shortage has come down from 3,500 megawatts to 2,500 megawatts. Investments have grown, factories have come up, residential areas have gone up and so demand for power has also gone up. But yes the rate of addition of power has not taken place at the required pace. But it is not as bad as it is in other states," said Chavan

But Raut said that about 10-15 years back Maharashtra was a power-surplus state and was giving power to Karnataka, Gujarat, Goa, Madhya Pradesh etc.

Chavan stuck to his guns saying that the power situation has been improving in the state.

"We have added more than 2,000 megawatts of power. Private sector players are also coming in. The Government of India has also added new projects for Maharashtra. There has been capacity addition the state and by 2012 Maharashtra will have surplus power," he said.

Kumar Ketkar disagreed with the claims made by Chavan and said that most of the progress in the state was happening only on the paper. He also added both the Congress-NCP alliance and the BJP-Shiv Sena combine were responsible for the present situation in the state.

"They (Congress-NCP) can claim that they stand for development and secularism. But what is experience of the people? The investments and projects are often on the paper and actually the life pf the people has been deteriorating for the last 15 years even since BJP-Sena came to power in 1995. So the deterioration tone was set in 1995. Congress has not been able to reverse that," Ketkar pointed out.

Nikhil Wagle concurred with the views expressed by Ketkar.

"The situation is neither bright nor bad. I agree with Ketkar. People are neither happy with ruling party nor with the Opposition parties. The performance of opposition in Assembly is very bad. The Chief Minister claims of development but where is it? There is no electricity and there are problems in agriculture too. Both ruling party and Opposition are bad. There is no alternative for the people," said Wagle.

Maharashtra was once seen as an industrialised state but today the image is that of a state where farmers regularly commit suicide. Even Prime Minister Manmohan Singh came to Vidarbha in 2006 and said that he would like to reach out to the farmers. In the last five years more than 6,000 farmers have committed suicide in the state.

Chavan once again claimed that the situation was not as bad as it was made out to be.

"Reserve Bank of India's latest report on the development shows the number of industries that have come up in the state. Reports by various organisations prove that Maharashtra is No. 1 in terms of investment, SEZs and employment generation. Coming to farmers' suicide the Prime Minister has announced a relief package and the state government, too, has come up with relief package," he said.

Maharashtra: A state in crisis?

Ketkar pointed that the state was doing badly on most of the front for the past two decades and so no one party could be held responsible for it.

"Maharashtra has been declining since 1990 and in the last two decades has not improved on any front. The Enron project which according to me was a good project was destroyed by the BJP-Sena and later they said they will recover it but could not do so. So the decline became in 1990 and continues till date. That is the tragedy of Maharashtra," he said.

Mumbai also seems to be a city in decline. It was supposed to the Shanghai of India but a cloudburst in 2006 saw the city becoming a sinking city.

"That is also a problem of our political class. Nobody is bothered about Maharashtra. There is no transparency, no development and no concern for the people. That is the real problem," said Wagle.

Raut took a pot shot at Chavan saying, "The problem is that ruling party members consider Mumbai as a shelter and not their home."

Chavan, too, did not hold back and took a swipe at Raut and his party.

"They (BJP-Shiv Sena) can tell you better what they did for Mumbai when they were in power from 1995 to 1999. Today projects worth Rs 50,000 are in various stages of implementation. I don't deny that problems are not there. They are there but things have definitely improved in the last five-seven years. The issues are there and we are here to tackle those issues. No state can claim that there are no issues," said the Maharashtra Chief Minister.

But in Maharashtra teachers are not being paid their salaries even as a Shivaji statue costing Rs 305 crore is being built in the Arabian Sea.

"Shivaji statue has nothing to do with the state's treasury. This was the long cherished dream of the people of Maharashtra," said Chavan.

Raut also spoke in favour of the statue being built.

"Teachers' salaries have to be given. It has to do with corruption in the department and has nothing to do with the Shivaji statue," he said.

Ketkar, however, has strong views against the statue being built.

"It is a completely misplaced priority and I don't think Shivaji's statue was demanded by the people. Moreover, Shivaji Maharaj would not himself have liked that at the cost of salaries for people they should build his statue," said the veteran journalist.

Why should people vote for BJP-Shiv Sena?

"BJP-Shiv Sena has a blue print and vision about how Maharashtra should look in 2014. There should be guarantee fro agricultural produce, there should be guarantee for educated unemployed youth, the law and order situation should be under control and the government exchequer should be flooded with money. Apart from that there is the development of infrastructure of cities like Mumbai, development of more satellite cities in the golden triangle of Mumbai, Nashik and Pune which we are going to undertake," said Raut.

"The education system of this state has to be improved so that the poorest of the poor can get employment. We will create infrastructure for agro-industries so that people involved in agriculture are not unemployed," he added.

When it was pointed out that the Shiv Sena leader has skipped the topic of Hindutva which has always been one of the major planks of the alliance, Ketkar said that they will be raising the issue whenever they would feel the need.

"I don't think they have any such plan (of abandoning Hindutva). Whenever Hindutva is convenient it will be played up, when Shivaji's statue in convenient it will be Shivaji. Whenever Marathi point is convenient it will be Marathi. Now that Raj Thackeray has stolen their programme, they are not talking about it. The point is Shivaji-Marathi-Hindutva are all fraudulent ideas perpetuated on the people to cheat them and divert their attentions from the main issues," said Ketkar.

Chavan took on Raut on the law and order situation claiming the alliance was creating problems in the states.

"It is a pleasant surprise to hear from Bharat Kumar Raut about law and order situation because they themselves have created law and order problems. The Shiv Udyog Sena started some project employment. I think only Uddhav Thackeray has got employment. None of the state's people have got employment," he chuckled.

So can the BJP-Shiv Sena government be different from 1995 when a lot of promises were made but barring a few nothing really took place? Are they changing or will they return to power?

"They will return to Hindutva whenever it is convenient. Last month there were riots in Miraj and Sangli. Shiv Sena and BJP leaders rushed to the spot and tried to inflame the situation. So Bharat Kumar Raut must answer that," said Wagle.

On the question of Marathi Manoos, Raut quickly said that Shiv Sena has always fought for the rights of Maharashtrians.

"Shiv Sena was born for the legitimate rights of Marathi Manoos and we stand by it. Even if there are many players our stand does not get diluted. Because of Shiv Sena and Sthaniya Lokadhikar Samiti (Shiv Sena's labour wing) the legitimate right of maximum employment to Marathi people has been upheld," he claimed.

"The point is he is disproving his own issue. Shiv Sena was formed 43 years ago and he says they are still fighting for the same cause, which means for the last 43 years they have not been able to do anything in spite of the fact that they came to power for five years. So in spite of those five years in power and violent and non violent agitations Shiv Sena has been able to achieve absolutely nothing for the Maharashtrian people. Your question was what have they done for the Marathi Manoos and the answer is that they have done nothing," Ketkar said.

Wagle agreed with Ketkar saying that Shiv Sena has been guilty of neglecting its core constituency.

"It is true that they have not done enough. Sthaniya Lokadhikar Samiti has done some good work but that was in 1970s. Now Marathi Manoos needs development, needs jobs and education. There is lot to be done for Marathi language and Shiv Sena is not at all aware of this. There is no proper software for Marathi language," he pointed out.

Chavan said that though the interest of the Maharashtrians had to be taken care of but his government would not be doing anything that would go against the Constitution of India.

"There is a feeling that the interest if Marathi people is being neglected. To a certain extent things have to be looked into carefully and sentiments have to be respected. The government has taken all the necessary steps to do that. Since 1960 we have seen that 80 per cent of the jobs are given to the locals. Secondly we have to go by the Constitution of India. The Constitution of India permits that anybody in India has a legitimate right to live in any part in any state of India. You cannot discriminate because of caste, religion and language. My government will go by the Constitution of India," said Chavan.

Raj Thackeray has announced that if he comes to power he will introduce a permit system for Mumbai.

"Not only Raj Thackeray but his (Chavan) predecessor Vilasrao Deshmukh has said that there has to be some measure by which the influx of people is curbed," said Raut.

Chavan blamed the Shin Sena for not doing enough to curd the slums in Mumbai.

"The Mumbai Municipal Corporation is being run by the Shiv Sena for the last 15 years. Let them tell how have they controlled the unauthorised hutments in Mumbai?" he asked.

Will 26/11 be a key election issue?

"I would not like to blame Vilasrao Deshmukh (Maharashtra chief minister when the Mumbai attacks took place) for 26/11. The situation of 26/11 was unique and one could have never imagined that this kind of attack could take place. The police is trained to handle a law and order problem. It was not a law and order problem. It was a proxy war by Pakistan. After 26/11 things are much better due to the work that we have done," said Chavan.

Rising corruption in Maharashtra

"The main reason is Mumbai is the most expensive and costly city in terms of real estate because for the last 300 years it has been the commercial centre. Real estate prices have been going up and therefore it has more money to corrupt the politicians, to corrupt the bureaucracy, corrupt the police and even to corrupt the media sometimes." Ketkar.

"Maharashtra politicians are morally bankrupt and corrupt," Wagle added.

Ketkar also blamed the current mess on the rise of dynasty politics.

"Dynasty system has got engrained because the party system is failing. The party cadre was created to take the message of the party and the principles of the party to the people. Now because party cadre is declining so naturally you don't have party activists but you only have your family. Family members are promoted as they are supposed to be the natural successors. So the decline of party and democratic institutions is very dangerous," he warned.

What are the key election issues?

"Ideally party ideology should have been the issue but now the party system has collapsed, ideologies have disappeared. So the voter should choose a good candidate irrespective of the party that the person is from. A candidate sensitive to the people and issues should be voted irrespective of the party," said Ketkar.

"The issues are bijli, sadak, paani (electricity, road and water) and governance. Basically people should vote for governance and good candidates. Whoever comes to power must think of Maharashtra and must have will power to develop this state," said Wagle.

Raut claimed that if the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance won the elections all the problems of the states would be tackled on war footing.

"Good governance will be the priority of BJP-Shiv Sena government. Bijli, sadak, paani and then education will be the priority.

On the other hand Chavan claimed that the Congress-NCP has always strived for the development of the state and would continue to do so in the future.

"We have done our best in the last 10 years. We will strive to do better than what wee have done earlier. We look forward to a global Maharashtra so that we are not only able to compete with other states of the country but also be globally competitive," he said concluding the debate.

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