For the people of Maharashtra, Saturday night was the "thank god it's done" moment. After all the grandstanding and negotiating and lobbying of the last three weeks, the state has a government at last. Both sides claim victory in getting what they wanted from the negotiations but that is hardly the point. There are no winners or losers, only the undeniable fact that the coalition partners frittered away good two weeks haggling over the number of ministries and portfolios each one would get. That is not an auspicious beginning to the third government of the Congress-NCP combine.
The two parties have tried to incorporate legislators from all areas of the state, although western Maharashtra appears to have an advantage. Narayan Rane, even a hopeful chief minister in waiting, has been thwarted for now and even his supporters have not made it. The new arrivals in the legislature from the Congress party have presumably been told to follow the Rahul Gandhi principle of learning the ropes first and aspiring for posts later.
This government has a lot of work to do. First and foremost, we are staring at the first anniversary of the November 26, 2008 attacks on Mumbai. While the trial of Ajmal Kasab, the one terrorist caught alive, has been progressing at a reasonably satisfactory pace, where are we on increasing security, bolstering the police force with new weaponry, securing the coastline, getting the commandoes settled and improving disaster management?
And the record here is hardly edifying. Sadly, compensation has not been paid to all the victims of the attacks, in spite of the spotlight being on the authorities at all times. Doubts about the apparently faulty communication lines within the police and between the police and the intelligence agencies remain. And with new threats being mentioned by the intelligence agencies and the central government, can we in Mumbai honestly say we feel safe and secure? What the government says on this in the next few days will set the tone for its performance on the crucial question of security. There are other state-level issues too, from the agrarian crisis to power and infrastructure. Chaven has promised to get on with the job, but the first few months will show if this is going to be a qualitatively different government than during the past 10 years. The two parties have to take care that this mandate is not frittered away.
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