CAFE
COM:PORT
CHAT JOCKEYS
EVENTS

It will be two years next month since the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government took the reins of power in Maharashtra amid hope and fear -- hope that decades of Congress misrule would finally end, fear that the violent Sena cadres might become worse.

The Sena, which claims to represent the ideals of Shivaji, the great Maratha king who struck at Aurangzeb's empire, promised Shivshahi (ideal rule under Shivaji). Yet today, the Sena finds itself on the defensive on all counts. It has broken its promises, and is fast acquiring the reputation of a party that cares only for money.

It all began with Enron. The BJP-Sena had promised to throw the Enron project into the Arabian Sea and prosecute former chief minister Sharad Pawar for corruption. Yet, on coming to power and appointing endless committees, the Enron power project at Dabhol is still around, and no action has been taken against Pawar. It was the first betrayal, certainly not the last.

The mysterious death of Ramesh Kini, a middle-class Maharashtrian, plunged the Sena into a whirlpool of controversy. Kini, ironically, was a member of the Sena, and is representative of the party's support base. His crime: He refused to vacate his home which was owned by a man close to Raj Thackeray, nephew of the Shiv Sena leader.

Other crises followed. Bal Thackeray verbally attacked one of Maharashtra's most revered figures, the celebrated litterateur, P L Deshpande, who had criticised autocratic rule in the state. The ruckus reverberated. Hindi film actor Nana Patekar, an icon for Sena followers, then warned Thackeray against taking Sainiks for granted. Another well-known actor, Amol Palekar, refused an award from the Sena government.

Maharashtra (literally, Great Nation) was once India's foremost industrial state. No more. Gujarat has overtaken it in the industrial sweepstakes. Even a state like Orissa, which many consider backward, today attracts more investment than Maharashtra.

Yet, the BJP-Sena remain popular, or rather, the Congress still remains extremely unpopular (the constituents of the United Front have a minimal presence) in the state. The local body elections, to be held on Sunday, February 23, is being seen as a referendum on the BJP-Sena rule of the last two years.

Campaigning for the civic polls ends at 1800 hours IST, Friday, February 21. Two hours later, Kumar Ketkar, executive editor, Maharashtra Times, will appear on the Rediff Chat to discuss the recent upheavals in the state and what should be done for it to remain the numero uno province in India. Ketkar, who began his career at the Economic Times before moving on to The Observer of Business and Politics, is widely considered an expert on Maharashtra politics. The Chat, considering the responses to his article on these pages, is bound to be controversial. Be there!