Can Pawar-thackeray tide over this crisis too?
Last year, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and chief minister Uddhav Thackeray pulled off a coup when they put together an unexpected coalition of three parties and snatched power from the BJP after 2019 Assembly elections. They also managed to run the government smoothly for the past six months. Now, as Maharashtra is struggling to handle the pandemic, the duo faces the challenge of not only controlling the health crisis, but also bringing the state’s economy back on track. And if that is not enough, the current developments have led to speculation over political uncertainty in the state. The two leaders also have some differences over the issue of lifting the lockdown, especially in Mumbai, the financial capital of India.
Pawar, who was the architect of the coalition, managed to convince the Congress leadership to support a Shiv Sena government. He also ensured that the coalition is led by Uddhav Thackeray, as the cabinet comprised several political heavyweights. Thackeray who never held any public office handled the job of chief minister without much trouble for six months and managed to handle the diverse coalition. The Covid-19 epidemic, however, has led to a health and economic crisis in the state and has become a tough challenge not just for him.
Maharashtra has the highest nunber of Covid-19 cases in the country. Till Wednesday, the Covid-19 case count was 56,948 with 1,897 deaths. Mumbai is the most affected city with 34,018 cases and 1,097 deaths.
State health officials say they are expecting the cases to increase further in June. The state may cross 1the -lakh mark next month. Preparing for this situation is a tough task for Thackeray and his government. The state does not have adequate health infrastructure if the number shoots up further.
“This would have been difficult even for an experienced chief minister due to the unprecedented nature of the crisis. Thackeray had never handled any public office before he became the chief minister. As such, Pawar has been guiding him,” said a senior NCP minister who did not want to be named. “Since he took initiative to form this government, Pawar will have to step in if the crisis is affecting the state badly and it seems like he has been doing it,” said political analyst Hemant Desai.
In the past few days, Pawar has met Thackeray thrice and held discussions on handling the crisis. The duo, however, has different opinions over exiting the lockdown which is in effect in the state. According to MVA ministers, Pawar is keen on reopening the city as early as possible, but Thackeray is apprehensive that there could be spike in cases if lockdown is lifted entirely in affected areas. Mumbai can’t be kept shut for a long time as it will badly affect the city and state’s economy, Pawar has apparently pointed this out. After all, Pawar knows this better than anybody else. In March 1993, following serial bomb blasts in Mumbai, there were apprehensions that life in the city would not normalise soon. However, Pawar who was then the chief minister of the state, ensured the share market and other financial institutions were reopened within 2-3 days.
Thackeray’s overdependence on bureaucracy, too, is not going down well with the alliance partners. “Thackeray will have to now take a call whether to continue with the lockdown in June or whether to lift the restrictions. He is reluctant, but he will start reopening cities in a staggered manner,” said a Congress minister.
However, the developments in the past few days, which saw Pawar meeting Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari (the two reportedly spoke about the state’s response to Covid-19 crisis) and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, making it clear that his party is not a decision-maker in the MVA government has raised doubts over future of the government. “Pawar meeting Governor Koshyari was a courtesy call. It was also to reduce the tension between the state and Central governments. You can’t handle the ongoing crisis without help from the Centre,” said a senior Shiv Sena leader. Desai does not see any chances of trouble between Pawar and Thackeray and also between the MVA partners. “To end speculations over the government’s future, they put up a united front by holding a meeting of three parties. Their priority will be to handle the crisis and not switch political sides. Nobody knows this better than Pawar,”said Desai.