Watch before you shoot your mouth

Freedom of speech is every citizen’s right. But, when minister of state for home Ramesh Bagwe speaks out of turn, often contradicting his senior cabinet minister for home RR Patil, the freedom may be subject to some curbs. Since the Democratic Front government was voted to power after the 2009 elections, there have been several instances of senior and junior ministers working at cross-purposes. For instance, a day after the court sentenced the 26/11 gunman Kasab to death, Bagwe pre-empted his senior colleague Patil by declaring that there was no question of shifting Kasab out of Arthur Road jail. This was in contradiction to home officials saying they were keen to move Kasab out. A couple of weeks ago, Bagwe suo motu announced the transfer of Pune police commissioner Satyapal Singh. An amused Patil asserted there were no such plans. Patil also wondered how his junior made such an announcement when transfer decisions relating to police officers are not his jurisdiction. Insiders in the home ministry admit that Bagwe often encroaches upon Patil’s areas.  Ashok Chavan is hoping that Bagwe will, some day, be asked to think before he shoots his mouth off.

State forgot former CMs
The state as well as private organisations have planned celebratory golden jubilee events for the whole year. Needless to say, then, invitations were flowing in for former chief ministers like Union ministers Vilasrao Deshmukh (heavy industries) and Sushil Kumar Shinde (power). In fact, a personal secretary to one of the ministers said, “It is hard to say no… we wonder how to keep pace with such a hectic schedule. We have to hop between Delhi and Mumbai.” But, he added, “What we find hard to understand is why he (the minister) did not get an official invitation to the function held at Girgaum Chowpatty on May 1 to mark the 50th year of state formation.” Sources at Mantralaya reveal that “the golden jubilee plan was wrapped up in a short span of time, hence, they did not think of inviting all former chief ministers”. The CM’s advisors realised their mistake only when they heard that Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi had invited all former chief ministers of Maharashtra to celebrate Gujarat swarnim jayanti. By then, it was too late.

Star-crossed uncles, nephews
Uncles have often had reason to regret grooming their nephews in state politics, especially when their own child is in the fray. Take Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who had taught nephew Raj the basics of politics, but later, chose his son Uddhav as heir. Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar, too, finds himself on a tightrope walk as his nephew, water resources minister Ajit Pawar, steers the state unit of the party independently. His daughter Supriya Sule is a Congress MP and a bone of contention between uncle and nephew. Senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde can empathise with the duo. He also faced the wrath of nephew Dhananjay when he chose his daughter Pankaja as candidate from Beed. There is one exception. Deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal has struck the perfect balance when it comes to sharing of power between son Pankaj (MLA) and nephew Sameer (MP). Not surprisingly, Sameer has pledged to follow in his uncle’s footsteps.