Political heat added to the hot Mumbai summer with Ajit Pawar leading a troop of NCP MLAs from the opposition to the Eknath Shinde-BJP government in Maharashtra. The move was driven by the BJP's need to insulate its government from a wafer-thin majority in the event of 16 Shiv Sena MLAs being disqualified while seeking the Supreme Court's directions to the Maharashtra Speaker to expeditiously consider their disqualification petition. The decision was also guided by the dwindling political stock of the Shinde-led dispensation in Maharashtra, as indicated by the setbacks it faced - losing the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) elections in May, winning only one of four MLC seats, the loss of BJP's fortress Kasba Peth in a bypoll in March to rival Congress, and the long-delayed Mumbai civic body Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections.
Despite the crude political considerations at play, the switchover reveals a worrying normalisation and deployment of political corruption that's hollowing out governance and democracy in Maharashtra.
Betrayal of people's trust and mandate
It's still fresh in voters' memories how Prime Minister Narendra Modi called out the NCP as a "Naturally Corrupt Party". He had specifically held out Chhagan Bhujbal and Ajit Pawar, now sworn in as ministers, as icons of corruption. The Prime Minister was not alone in repeatedly centering the BJP's campaign in Maharashtra on the plank of rooting out the corruption and nepotism that according to the BJP, was exemplified by the NCP. Top BJP leaders campaigned on this plank. Devendra Fadnavis famously promised to throw Ajit Pawar in jail by saying his future is "Chakki peesing, peesing, peesing," borrowing lines from the blockbuster Sholay to describe prison.
The votes that the BJP mobilised in the 2019 elections were on the trust of the people of the state that if in power, the BJP would act against the NCP's wheeling and dealing. However, with the BJP bringing the breakaway NCP into the government and that too through the shady make-and-break of party factions, the people's trust has been betrayed. The alliance is an insult to the mandate that the BJP got to act against NCP and leaves one wondering whether the BJP can ever be trusted to not cross any red line or to not breach any moral limit to cling to power.
Unprecedented Cynicism, Brazenness
Another disturbing aspect of the NCP mutiny is that a significant number of turncoat MLAs were confronting the scrutiny of central investigating agencies CBI and Enforcement Directorate. In fact, what is common to all 9 NCP MLAs included in the Eknath Shinde-BJP government is that they have serious inquiries pending against them. Ajit Pawar, Deputy Chief Minister for the third time, was alleged to be the kingpin of the irrigation scam by the BJP. Similarly, Chhagan Bhujbal is also facing money laundering allegations.
Besides the immorality of making ministers out of the very MLAs it accuses of corruption, what is evident is the BJP's unprecedented brazenness and cynicism in using central agencies to exploit and enable corruption by pressuring accused MLAs to cross over to the BJP or partner with it, in exchange for "protection" from central probe agencies.
This brazenness is turning the rule of law in India into a mockery, with two categories of citizens - those who support the BJP and enjoy protection from the law in unhindered conduct of corruption and illegalities, and those who oppose it and face persecution (being jailed without even being convicted, as in the case of Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain), not for what they did or didn't do, but simply for not giving in to the pressure and refusing any truck with the BJP.
Governance, Democracy Denigrated
The spectacle of naked opportunism and immorality in breaking parties should also trouble us because it denigrates governance and democracy.
When a political party is solely obsessed with scheming and plotting to expand its political power, governance naturally takes a back seat. Over the past fortnight, social media has been awash with an overflowing sewer in Mumbai's Kurla station and a leaking roof at Mulund station. Families have still not stopped mourning the two dozen who died in the Buldhana road accident, where questions have been raised on the road design. The challenges of Mumbai flooding and a probable reduction in crop output due to the possibility of El Nino lurk without any visible action. In general, the different electoral setbacks for the BJP-Shinde government reveal growing public disenchantment with lacklustre governance in the state.
At the national level too, the Modi regime is beset with challenges it seems clueless about - the raging Manipur crisis, lack of justice for the wrestlers who faced sexual harassment, the precarious state of railway safety, rocketing airline prices, and out-of-control governors like RN Ravi, to name a few. Instead of bringing any meaningful improvement in governance, the BJP has revealed its sole focus on unscrupulous politics, prioritising power at all costs.
The record of troubling corruption in different BJP governments formed through the political corruption of defections makes one particularly apprehensive about the dark days confronting Maharashtra. The BJP's Karnataka government, formed through similar scheming, was handed a comprehensive defeat over the perception of widespread corruption and immorality. The BJP's government in Madhya Pradesh is also quite unpopular and faces anti-incumbency.
These switches also weaken democracy as they reduce voters' trust and engagement with our systems. The MLAs involved in these coups focus on maximising their illegal incomes in the short duration they enjoy power (such defections are routinely punished by voters and such MLAs perform poorly). A good example is Madhya Pradesh, where Scindia camp MLAs have a poor track record and approval ratings. Political parties too lose the incentive to perform when they realise that power can anyway be gained through such backroom deals instead of the hard way of performing and winning fairly in the court of the people.
What we are witnessing in Maharashtra is the unpunished political corruption of the BJP's leadership, which is hollowing governance and democracy in what is India's richest state. Hopefully, the voters of Maharashtra will be less forgiving of such a charade during the 2024 elections and firmly leash the dragon of corruption.
(Dilip Pandey is an MLA, Chief Whip (RP) in Delhi Assembly, Vice President of Delhi's State Unit and National Spokesperson of Aam Aadmi Party)
Disclaimer: These are the personal opinions of the author.