Storm brewing ahead of the Monsoon session

Sleeves have been rolled up nostrils flared and teeth are grinding against each other over what is expected to be another embarrassing defeat for the Congress and NCP parties this time in the state assembly elections The hunt for scapegoats and alternatives in leadership is on with equal desperation in the Democratic Front alliance as the Monsoon session of the state legislature starts today mdash the last for the incumbent state governmentEver since the Lok Sabha results came out the chaos in the Democratic Front has been inexorably on the rise The ruling side has been plunged into a state of such anarchy and confusion thatit even forgot to arrange for the coordination committee meeting recentlyNo formal meeting took place between the Congress and NCP to assess the factors that let their shocking defeat in the Lok Sabha elections and what must be done to reclaim their ascendancy The Congress leadership hasnrsquot bothered to offer a clear message to its party cadres or to its ally the NCP leaving leaders and legislators directionless at a chaotic timeSensing that a storm is brewing ahead of the Monsoon session state chief secretary J S Saharia recently issued an important directive to departmental secretaries asking them to be present without fail at Mantralaya once the session is underway No officer should leave the city without his consent he said and should be ready to tackle any issue that the sessions at the state legislature throw up mdash the secretaries should remain present inthe officersrsquo gallery at Vidhan Bhavan whenever the sessions are on Similar directives were unheard of in the past said babusThe present circumstances are particularly challenging for CM Prithviraj Chavan and his cabinet colleagues as demands by legislators will rise in the runup to the assembly elections Legislators in the antiChavan camp are ready to corner him over pending development works for which financial provisions are yet to be made Demands for reservation are on the rise from a crosssection of the Maratha community particularly vocal ones coming from the Lingayats and DhangarsThe state coffers are too dry to allow for the funding of demands made out of turn and projects that are not a part of the annual budget The state government was left redfaced after failing to make good on its promise of making food grains available at concessional rates to families above poverty line APL mdash after announcing it to gain ground before Lok Sabha elections No relief has been paid yet to farmers whose crops were damaged in the unseasonal hailstorms These factors are being cited as the primary reason for the drubbing that the Congress received in the state in the Lok Sabha electionsChavanrsquos squeakyclean image amidst a bunch of tarnished politicians did not help the party but neither did Ajit Pawarrsquos aggression and legislators attribute it to their utter lack of performance Chavan has just a few months in which to dole out the R10 crore that was promised to several ruling party MLAs and MPs Significantly state departments were asked to approve development projects recommended by the legislators and MPs so that they could directly claim credit for the feats But administrative hurdles prevented the flow of money offering little to MPsApart from other grievances the failure to fill up vacancies in the state cabinet may also cost the alliance Vacancies at staterun boards and enterprises have been pending for the past four years Now it appears not many are interested in the oncecoveted positions having realised that it will not improve their electoral prospectsAmidst all this chaos comes the sensational inquiry report of the Maharashtra state apex cooperative bank which has the potential to disturb the electoral prospects of top ranking leaders The report implies that the director board a majority of them from NCP and Congress has over the years engaged in disbursal of loans to sick or unviable cooperative units run by prominent leaders The inquiry report reveals details of losses to the bank and recovery of funds from the director board which include big names like Ajit Pawar and a host of MPs and MLAsThe writer is PoliticalEditor of midday