Beed murder and Maratha mobilisation

Three rallies for justice in the Santosh Deshmukh murder case reflect Maratha community tensions, with political implications for the ruling Mahayuti alliance

The last 10 days saw three major rallies demanding justice for Santosh Deshmukh, a sarpanch in Beed district who was brutally murdered for resisting an extortion bid. Silent marches followed by public meetings were held at Latur, Beed, Parbhani and Pune in a fortnight. These marches were reminiscent of the ones organised for Maratha reservation in the past. There is no secret that a majority of the participants in these silent marches were from the Maratha community. There is a strong Maratha vs Vanjari undertone to the Deshmukh murder case due. The tussle has been going on in Beed ever since Manoj Jarange-Patil led the agitation for Maratha reservation from OBC quota last year. Mahayuti leaders, especially in the BJP, suspect that the murder issue is again leading to Maratha mobilisation, especially with Jarange-Patil’s participation in the agitations.

Massive all-party march in Parbhani over Beed sarpanch’s murder

In 2016, a rape and murder case in Kopardi, Ahmednagar had led to Maratha mobilisation with silent marches later taking on the form of agitations for reservation in jobs and education. The Mahayuti leaders are now keeping an eye on the marches to see if they also takes a similar turn. Anticipating this, BJP’s Maratha leaders have also been participating in the marches. BJP’s MLA from Beed district Suresh Dhas is already leading the campaign demanding removal of NCP minister Dhananjay Munde from the state cabinet as the latter’s close aide Walmik Karad’s role is being probed in the case. In a march in Parbhani, labour leader and BJP leader Narendra Patil also took part. Meanwhile, the aggressive demand for removal of Munde from the cabinet has put Ajit Pawar in a tight spot.

Ladki Bahin Yojna dilemma

The Mahayuti government is in a dilemma over Ladki Bahin Yojna which was a major force behind the alliance’s return to power. The administration is insisting that it will have to scrutinise the beneficiaries as a number of women who are not eligible are getting the monthly cash handout. The high number of beneficiaries - about 2.5 crore - is putting pressure on the state exchequer. Every year, the state will have to spend over ₹90,000 crore on various sops and freebies. Finance officers have been pointing out that there is limited scope to increase revenue. Following the introduction of GST, there is not much scope for the state to hike taxes. Increasing revenue by allowing more liquor licences or liberal sale of liquor would also be politically problematic. Agriculture minister Manikrao Kokate’s latest statement that women whose families get the Kisan Sanman Yojna (cash handout for farmers) should not avail benefit of Ladki Bahin Yojna has now kicked up a fresh controversy with Opposition accusing the ruling parties of misleading women for votes. Several leaders in the ruling camp are pointing out that such freebies would make governance difficult but the Opposition is in no mood to listen. Their contention is that if the Mahayuti won the election by marketing these schemes, they should now deal with the consequences. On the other hand, legislators in the ruling coalition too are not in favour of reducing the number of beneficiaries drastically.

Seeking divine blessings

In last week’s cabinet meeting, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis had to tell the ministers who had not taken charge of their offices to do so immediately. At least half a dozen ministers had not taken charge till last week either because the renovation of their cabins was not complete or they were waiting for the right muhurat. A couple of ministers even got vaastu consultants to make changes in the offices allotted to them so that their tenure would be a success. Several ministers got priests to conduct puja rituals before taking charge. After all, being a minister is not an easy job in a competitive political environment. Further, retaining the chair when the ruling parties have won 235 out of 288 seats has made them more insecure. As deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar recently said, the alliance government is not worried if one or two MLAs are unhappy as they have ample majority with more than 235 MLAs. Little wonder then that ministers are feeling the need for divine blessings.

Jiretop jitters

In his third time as chief minister, Devendra Fadnavis has been extra cautious. On Friday, at a function at Alandi in Pune, Fadnavis was presented with a jiretop, a headgear that Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj used to wear. Fadnavis declined to wear the headgear and told the organisers that the jiretop should be on Chhatrapati Shivaji’s head and that he is just a mavala (a soldier of the Maratha king). During the Lok Sabha elections, NCP leaders had offered the jiretop to prime minister Narendra Modi and put it on his head, which had evoked angry reactions with Opposition parties slamming the ruling coalition over the gesture.