It’s time the BJP and the Shiv Sena set aside their differences in the larger interest of the city and state in these testing times. With cases piling and lives lost by the second, the two need to come together to find a robust solution to our current woes
Graphic/Uday Mohite
Just about 18 months ago, this state had elections to decide who its next chief minister will be. Devendra Fadnavis was the incumbent and Uddhav Thackeray his ally. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena were testy partners, went to polls together, won the election, had a falling out over power-sharing, went their separate ways, and both tried to form a government with the NCP. The BJP failed and the Sena succeeded.
Mourners who lost their kin to COVID-19 at a crematorium in Shivaji Park on Monday. Pic/Ashish Raje
By December, Mr. Thackeray had become chief minister, and Mr. Fadnavis the Leader of the Opposition. Around the time Mr. Thackeray was taking oath, a mysterious virus emerging from Wuhan was taking global centre-stage.
By early 2020, the world as we knew it was turned upside down. The central government, as an authority, did many things wrong and some things right.
In Maharashtra though, the discourse was all about a Bollywood actor’s death, a Bollywood actor’s allegedly illegal home office, and most recently, a threat to a Mumbai industrialist. Now that India is in the grip of a second wave, Maharashtra is front and centre again.
While Mr. Thackeray has not done much wrong in battling the virus, the role played by the Opposition BJP in these tough times leaves a lot to be deserved. Especially Mr. Fadnavis, who should know better, having been the chief executive of this state for five long years.
To be sure, Mr. Fadnavis’s role in shining the light on the murkiness behind the Ambani threat saga was indeed stellar. And this paper has done as much as he has, if not more, in exposing the seedy underbelly of the Mumbai police.
But what we find extremely troubling is the fiasco of a leader of Mr. Fadnavis’s stature landing at a police station to argue on behalf of big pharma in the R5 crore Remdesivir imbroglio. His intentions may well have been right, but the incident only highlighted the intense politicking that’s been going on since Mr. Thackeray took charge.
It’s time the two parties set aside their differences and worked together. All the regular Mumbaikar cares about is: 1. Will I or my loved one get a bed? 2. Will my eligible family member get a vaccine shot soon? 3. Is there enough oxygen to service the sick population of this state and city?
This paper can say with utmost confidence that a solution to Mumbai’s — and Maharashtra’s — woes is not beyond Mr. Thackeray and Mr. Fadnavis if only they worked together.
Put aside your differences at least till the pandemic is over. Resume your fight at a later date. Think of the people of your state, our state — a state that has given you, and us as people, everything — and work together to act in the best interest of 12 crore Maharashtrians. Please sit down and speak. Please call a truce. By doing that, please give this state hope.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
