The BJP state unit, which has won most recent elections in the state, is facing the wrath of farmers. After repeated demands for loan waiver and the first-ever farmers' strike in the state, the Fadnavis government has finally yielded.
Are recent farmers' suicides and their ongoing strike hurting the Devendra Fadnavis government's image? The answer is a mixed bag, since any outcome is bound to be a cumulative one, whether for a person or a party. This seems to be what has happened to the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Maharashtra government.
The BJP state unit, which has won most recent elections in the state, is facing the wrath of farmers. After repeated demands for loan waiver and the first-ever farmers' strike in the state, the Fadnavis government has finally yielded.
People are used to seeing politicians change when they come to power. This has also happened to the BJP and its leaders. Those who earlier protested against farmers' suicides and had demanded filing of culpable homicide cases against those in power are now trying to undermine farmers' strike.
The BJP's skill in boxing in its alliance partners is also one of the reasons that its Maharashtra unit, as well Fadnavis, is receiving flak. First, it tried to suppress the Shiv Sena during pre-2014 assembly elections over their alliance. Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray went to the extent of comparing the BJP central leadership to Afzal Khan. The public falling out was not pretty.
During the Kalyan Dombivli elections in the 2015 so-called Diwali Dhamaka, Fadnavis questioned his Cabinet colleague and Sena minister Ramdas Kadam, saying "Tujha Pagaar Kiti, Tu Bolto Kiti" (You are being vocal beyond your pay grade).
When the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation elections came around, the city witnessed abusive language used almost daily by Thackeray, which Fadnavis retaliated to in a controlled manner. The BJP improved its tally and despite having 82 seats in BMC chose to be a watchdog.
The Sena is now under constant pressure and doesn't let go of an opportunity to criticise the government. The Sena is not alone; smaller partners are seething, too.
The four alliance partners are Republican Party of India (Athavale) led by Ramdas Athavale, now a Rajya Sa bha MP and a Minister in Narendra Modi's cabinet, Rastriya Samaj Party led by Mahadev Jankar, now an MLC and a minister in the Fadnavis cabinet, Shiv Sangram organisation leader Vinayak Mette who heads the committee for Chhatrapati Shivaji Memorial at Arabian Sea, and Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana, whose Sadabhau Shetty has been made an MLC and minister by Fadnavis.
All these partners, bar RPI, have been raising their voices. While Mete is unhappy that he is the only one who does not enjoy a place in the Cabinet, SSS leader and Hatkanangale MP Raju Shetti is miffed because the BJP is trying get Sadabhau Khot into its fold. Interestingly, Khot, Mete, and Jankar have been made MLCs by BJP by asking to file nominations on the BJP ticket. For the record, therefore, all three are BJP MLCs.
While the BJP took their support for a mega-alliance against Congress-NCP, this alliance seems to be withering mainly due to the BJP's ambitious 'Shat Pratishat BJP' (100 per cent BJP) plan. Another reason is the untimely and unwise statements by BJP leaders, be it party president Raosaheb Danve or ministers like Dilip Kamble. While Danve referred to farmers as by the pejorative 'saale', Kamble reportedly threatened journalists and reportedly made comments against Brahmins.
BJP which claimed to be a party with a difference is no longer in that position, since it has started accepting all and sundry into the party, made evident during the municipal corporation elections, in the hope that the party could change these leaders.
While some of his Cabinet colleagues deny it, Fadnavis is increasingly finding himself a lone warrior confronting farmers, Congress-NCP leaders like Shatrad Pawar, and sections of both media and social media. It is not the empty treasury that he received from the outgoing Congress-NCP government in 2014 but the growing missteps and internal friction that is making the Fadnavis government feel the heat
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "Devendra Fadnavis")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}