Politicians choose to tell some truth, sometimes

Former municipal commissioner S S Tinaikar, who spoke on behalf of the public, said considering the anti-BJP votes cast in Mumbai the party should do some serious introspection. “Of late, the leaders have been isolating themselves from the people. Wherever a politician goes, he is surrounded by four tofive gun-toting policemen,” he said. It could be one of the reasons for the low percentage of votes, he said adding that the Rent Act, promise of houses by the Chief Minister with nothing to show for it only aggravated the problem.

Some of the speakers could not help taking a dig at our erstwhile `rulers’, the Congress. Former IAS officer Avinash Dharmadikari, who contested as an independent from Pune, stated, “There was a time when Sharad Pawar used to decide who from the opposition would stand against which of the Congress candidates.”

Chairing the discussion, Kumar Ketkar, editor of Maharashtra Times quipped, “The Congress has been the ruling party for so long that now when another party comes to power, we usually say that it is an opposition-ruled government.”

On a more serious note, Javdekar spoke of how the coalition government at the Centre was unavoidable. “In the states, people voted hugely in favour of a regional political party which created a confusion at the national level,” heexplained.

Senior Congress leader from Pune Ulhas Patil felt that the Central government had a shaky foundation. “When Sharad Pawar went to congratulate Vajpayee after he won the trust vote, Vajpayee said that the continuance of the Government rested in the hands of the Congress,” he further stated.