Opposition isn't pulling together: Former Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan

If you look at the Gujarat situation, the Maharashtra farm crisis is far worse than Gujarat: Prithviraj Chavan

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan tells Aditi Phadnis the record of the Maharashtra government on all fronts is spotty. But the opposition needs to get its act together

Things have now come back to normal in Maharashtra after the Bhima Kopargaon stand-off and we can now take a cooler look at the episode that brought parts of Maharashtra to a complete standstill. What do you think happened?

Government knew that there would be a large mobilisation, this being the 200th anniversary of the battle. Prakash Ambedkar and other Dalit leaders had come there, they had also invited people from outside the state, like Rohith Vemula’s mother and Jignesh Mevani from Gujarat. Crowds were expected. If 200,000-300,000 people had gathered without any intention of violence, to manage that crowd was not very difficult. The government failed to manage that crowd. If miscreants were present in the crowd, the government failed to spot them and stop them. 

People who were mobilising had nothing against anybody. It was not an agitational crowd, they’d done it every year, they wanted to do it this year as well. On December 6, Ambedkar’s Mahaparinirvan day (death anniversary) 600,000-800,000 people come to Mumbai every year. Nothing happens. It is all very orderly. Why couldn’t they do that in Pune? So they were caught napping. There is no doubt about that.

Illustration: Binay Sinha

So the event is a failure of law and order?

There is, definitely, failure on that front. There is a crowd and somebody starts throwing stones. Miscreants had come in and they were carrying flags. This is clear identification of a group that is bent upon causing trouble.

Dalits normally wear blue: a blue cap or a blue shirt…it is easy to identify them. On the other hand, if you have people with bhagva (saffron) flags, it distinguishes them from the others immediately. It is red rag to a bull.

So what were police doing when people with saffron flags were seen there? Were they allowed to come in? Why weren’t they stopped? Why were they allowed to intermingle in the procession? If news channels can provide video footage, I am sure the police would have had even more bandobast…So why is there no arrest till date? If somebody instigated the crowd then who was that person? The government failed to anticipate the situation and prevent it and after the event has happened, identifying the exact culprits swiftly and taking action against them.

The ultimate question is: was there a conspiracy? Who was behind it? These two questions must be answered quickly. If they are not answered then government’s complicity in the whole thing….questions will be asked. Was BJP behind it? Was government behind it?

What is the assessment of the BJP government in Maharashtra generally?

Government has failed to fulfill any of the assurances given before the elections. They had promised to clear all the bank dues where property is mortgaged, of the farmers. The phrase used in Marathi is ‘Saat Barah’(the seven twelve extract) will be made ‘kora’ (blank) or saat barah kora. This means the 7/12 bank passbook of farmers will be made kora or wiped out. That didn’t happen. After about three years, they announced some sort of patchwork loan waiver. The other term used in Marathi is Sar Sakat. This means wholesale waiver of loan. That didn’t happen. Both assurances have not been completed at all.

The Chief Minister, speaking at a function, said the mess up in loan waiver numbers was caused by faulty information given by banks. He said Union Bank of India had given the government a figure of 648,000 farmers as borrowers. When the CM asked all farmers to apply for a waiver of loans, only 134,000 farmers applied who had taken loans from Union Bank of India. That means more than 500,000 accounts were ‘ghost’ accounts – not my words, the CM’s. That means somebody has taken money from the government. That is a bigger scandal. I wrote to the RBI Governor. I wrote to the Union Bank Chairman. No reply. I wrote to the CM and raised the matter in the House. Nothing. If a nationalised bank has tried to cheat the government of Maharashtra, it is a very serious matter. 

The number (of farmers in debt) has actually gone down from around 890,000 farmers that the CM announced first, to about 660,000 farmers. So who’s responsible?
 

The other promises were that remunerative procurement prices would be given to the farmer as per the Swaminathan Committee formula. That has not happened. Doubling of farm income in five years — not possible at all. A minimum support price law over and above the target price — ridiculous, because the private sector cannot make good the losses incurred by the farmer. The government has to find some money to make good the farmer’s losses. All these promises have not been fulfilled.

Then there are promises relating to jobs. Out of the PM’s job creation assurances, Maharashtra expects to get 2 million jobs. Big names that are supposed to set up shop in the state have been announced. But nothing has happened. All the promises made to the farm sector, employment sector… they have not been kept. They have not been able to rectify the power tariff situation. In a sentence, the government has failed.

But the BJP keeps winning election. People keep voting for it despite your allegations of comprehensive failure in performance and keeping promises…

That could be because of the failure of the opposition rather than success of the ruling party. Opposition is not able to pull its forces together. 

What is preventing the opposition from pulling its forces together?

It is not happening. There are so many reasons for it. The people who have been put in charge… the relationship between the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress…it is difficult at best. They (the NCP) pulled the government. It was not a natural election after the term gets over. The government was officially ended by alliance partners. It definitely gave benefit to the BJP. 

Why can’t the Congress and NCP have better coordination? They have been in government together…

The point is, there is an inherent issue. Both parties want to become the dominant partner and therefore want to finish the other one. So we are not fighting together against the BJP but more against each other to show who the larger party is. This is virtually fratricide. 

What future do you see for Maharashtra?

If you look at the Gujarat situation, the Maharashtra farm crisis is far worse than Gujarat. There, the people have voted aggressively and actively against the ruling BJP for mishandling the farm crisis. Exactly the same thing will happen in Maharashtra when elections come. Mishandling the problems of farmers is the real issue. So is slow industrial growth and lack of jobs in industry. The Smart City missions has collapsed. The CM is obsessed with the super highway. And PM is obsessed with the bullet train. Both are inherently stupid projects. If you give Rs 100,000, 100 billion to Indian industry, they too will be able to build a Made in India bullet train. 
 

The government has failed in the human development index department. The fire in the Kamala Mills shows lack of governance in those areas. Nobody gets punished. Corruption charges against ministers and people in the opposition are established. Quietly the chief minister appoints commissions of enquiry against somebody. It is all being done selectively: the logic being, keep the sword hanging over the opposition and recall the debt when you want it.