Maharashtra: Farmer pain, few jobs, Maratha quota are issues, but Modi rises above these

No wonder in a state where political lines blur and sharpen only to get blurred again — so much so that this is the first time the voter isn’t sure who is who. If she voted for the Sena in 2019, she now has to choose between two Senas; if she voted for the NCP,  she has to choose between two NCPs. How this will play out only June 4 will tell but, in this confusion, one thing is a little more clear.

In this swirl of shifting political allegiances, the blame for joblessness, Maratha reservation and farmer losses has also got diffused. It falls at a series of doorsteps, of the BJP-Sena (Shinde)-NCP (Ajit Pawar) state government, the previous state government, and inter and intra-party politics — not singularly on Modi.

“Modi chipkela hai logon ke dimaag mein. Woh hi aayega (Modi is stuck in people’s mind, he will return to power),” says Tanaji, a Maratha from Sholapur in his 50s, working as a driver in Mumbai.

From Darakunde, the entrepreneur, to driver Tanaji, and from a young upper-caste engineer into his first job in Karegaon to a tea stall owner for 10 years in Ahmednagar; from a salaried individual in his 30s in Maval to a farmer in Shirur who supports Sharad Pawar, The Indian Express spoke to several voters and the refrain was tellingly similar: They all have many complaints, but few for which they blame Modi.

Each one has a diagnosis of their problem, but “voting against Modi” isn’t seen as a surefire prescription — as many in the Opposition want to frame.

There is a context to this, too.

Unemployment is a problem, for sure, but it is not a problem of just the last 10 years, says Naushad Forbes, co-chairman of Forbes Marshall Pvt Ltd, an industrial machinery manufacturing company, with units in Pimpri and Chakan in Pune district.

“Reservation is about people wanting secure employment… it is seen as the only way of accessing this,” he underlines, when asked if the demand for reservation in government jobs and educational institutions is an indicator of rising unemployment.

Forbes Marshall employs 2,000 personnel, of whom 1,500 are in Pune alone, and the company hasn’t found it difficult to get skilled talent for its units. “We have a healthy mix of local and outside talent which makes it a workplace with good diversity,” Forbes says.

The palpable anger over Maratha reservation is probably more about the community’s diminishing social standing over the last two decades than just joblessness, explained a top-level corporate executive, who has been a visiting faculty in TISS in Mumbai.

“Every aspect of social life, from temples to schools and sugar factories, was dominated by Marathas. Not so anymore,” he says.

That’s why, as Dr H N Sonkamble, a professor of political science at Aurangabad’s MGM University, which has about 7,000 students, says, “the Maratha reservation is not so much about jobs as it is about education, particularly with children having to pay very high fees due to the state withdrawing from education… and the mushrooming of private universities over the last 20 years.”

Indeed, for educated youth in and around the region, jobs are not very difficult to seek. “You will get jobs only if you study hard; merely raising religious slogans will not get help,” says a 23-year old upper-caste youth from Ahmednagar,  who is a B.Tech graduate from Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune, and a fresh hire at Yazaki Group, a Japanese auto component major that makes wiring harness, in its Karegaon unit.

Referring to youth in his age group, this young mechanical engineer, who did not wish to be named, said, religion and faith are important aspects in life but education is most critical for jobs. “Here, many youths join groups, raise religious slogans and participate in processions… How will this help them? We have to study hard for jobs,” he says.

Maruti Pawar, an elderly farmer in Shirur, who has five children, says: “One of my two sons is a commerce graduate, but he hasn’t got a job so far. I will vote for any party which gives him a job. You tell me whom to vote for.” For some like Maruti Pawar, a secure job means everything; and definitely his vote.

Two Lok Sabha constituencies, Maval and Shirur, that fall en route from Mumbai to Ahmednagar and are part of the highly industrialised Western Maharashtra region, are dotted with small and medium sized factories.

Vithal Bhosle, a Maratha, working as a field associate with market research firm GfK Nielsen in Maval’s Talegaon village, says: “Employment is an issue, and this can be resolved only through development. But all this is better understood by youth… those who are over 50 have a different mindset.”

Besides the anger of Marathas over reservation, the farmers’ plight is seen to be deteriorating in the Marathwada region. “Prices of fertilisers have gone up sharply, that of diesel has doubled over the last five years, but we are not getting a good price for onions,” says Bhupesh Pawar, a farmer in his 30s, who also runs a small hotel, and is a supporter of Sharad Pawar’s NCP.

But then, Bhupesh Pawar also makes it known that the “country needs Modi at the Centre”. With a caveat: “with a slightly lower majority because running a government with the support of others is good for the country.” He adds that there is “negativity” for Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde — the two who broke their parties — but “not against the BJP.”

In Aurangabad, which will see a three-way fight between the two Sena factions and the sitting MP of AIMIM, many are still discussing and debating how to vote. Many Muslims and Dalits are torn between AIMIM candidate Imtiaz Jaleel, who is perceived as having represented the constituency and its people well in Parliament and as having raised pertinent issues locally, and the Sena (Uddhav Thackeray)’s Chandrakant Khaire, who is from a Scheduled Tribe.

“Jobs and reservation are not an issue in this election here,” says Hamid Shaikh, a labour contractor. “The government doesn’t have jobs to give… all jobs are in the private sector,” he notes.

In Maharashtra, the Congress, NCP (Sharad Pawar) and Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) are contesting as part of the larger INDIA coalition. On Monday, 11 constituencies — Pune, Shirur, Maval, Ahmednagar, Shirdi, Aurangabad, Beed, Jalna, Nandurbar, Jalgaon and Raver, comprising 2.28 crore voters — go to polls in the fourth phase. With these, elections would be over in 35 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state.