Govern or go

The Congress high command is used to placing and replacing chief ministers in the state — Chavan is the fourth in nine years. These leaders are kept wondering about their own futures,unable to take the crucial,creative decisions that Maharashtra and the city of Mumbai need. The party is at war within,and timid without,deferring all larger questions to the central leadership. Buffeted by scandal after scandal,the Congress had sent Chavan in November 2010,and both his promise and his weakness lay in the fact that he was seen as an outsider in Maharashtra’s politics-as-usual. Two years on,however,what has he achieved? To placate powerful leaders from the state after parachuting Chavan to the CM’s office,the Congress made room for them at the Centre,but took no further initiative for the state. Chavan was left to his fate,to sink or swim by his own political acumen. He may have gone after the big patronage hubs in the cooperative sector,real estate etc,and created political turbulence with his allies and party members,but he has also dragged his feet on the issues that matter to citizens — crises in employment and infrastructure,the power deficit,a rent-seeking municipal apparatus. Once again,what matters to Maharashtra has been sidelined by what matters to its politicians.

This churn may be inevitable,it comes from an inherent tension within the ruling coalition. It may be good,if it ends up exposing the corruption of both parties in the ruling coalition. But it cannot be allowed to forestall governance anymore. If this arrangement is no longer worth keeping up for the NCP and Congress,early elections should throw up another political option for the state.