Just read an article on how state government policies have changed the way Gujarat farms.And boy! I was impressed. But I also could not help make comparisons with my own state Maharashtra.
For long, Gujarat and Maharashtra were competitors in all spheres of economic and social activities. However, in the last decade and a half, Gujarat has stolen the march over Maharashtra not just in the sphere of industry but also agriculture. While Gujarat has shown stellar 'economic' (not social!)progress Maharashtra is plagued by many ills(Farmer Suicides, Lack of electricity, creaking urban infrastructure, industry moving to Gujarat,corporates moving to Bangalore and NCR just to name a few!).
The difference to my mind is that of the polity. Gujarat is governed by an autocratic albeit decisive Chief Minister with a vision( even if it were lopsided on many counts) while on the other hand Maharashtra has a Chief Minister whose only concern is to protect his chair from the many claimants within the ruling coalition. His lackadaisical approach is accentuated by the knowledge that the opposition cannot look beyond the politics of beating up hapless North Indian cabbies. All the Chief Minister has to do is to keep the powers in Delhi happy and he can have the chair all for himself!!
The situation is also not helped by the fact that Madam Gandhi cannot see a problem so long as enough MPs are sent to the Lok Sabha. However, its high time Sonia Gandhi wakes up! While Maharashtra has always been a bastion of the Congress, she cannot take this for granted. The government in Mantralaya has to deliver! Right now, it is inept and inefficient and is in desperate need of overhaul. It is full of sugar and education barons who give a damn to the state and its progress.
Madam Gandhi, its time you now focus your attention to this fast slipping state of ours.This is you last chance to rule the state( I dont know what other alternative we have!). If you do not deliver this time around, you can be sure your party in Maharashtra (and may be even you!!)will be warming the opposition benches the next time around!
For a start, you could ask your CM to start taking lessons on governance from Modi
PS- The article on Gujarat's thriving agriculture http://ibnlive.in.com/news/forbes-india-gujarat-shows-way-to-green-revolution/111793-3-single.html
Nice article...few people write on politics...keep it up...a small piece of advice though..sometimes your opinions are biased (you know towards whom)...try keeping it as unbiased as possible :)
ReplyDeleteWell in my view, the difference is between the cultures and the thinking of people as a whole. The congress is doing a good job at the centre and in Haryana, it does want to open up agriculture for private players and wants to set up commodity exchanges for efficient price discovery, but tell me how many states in India support this, especially if you talk about states like west bengal or Maharashtra...They've got Nano and Agriculture both at the same time, WB has got none....Same with Maharashtra, if u ppl want to make marathi boards compulsory and want to waste time on these things, u shd be ready to see Reliance's HQ shift to Jamnagar, u cn jst imagine d kind of revenue loss m talking of...As far as the congress is concerned, they have never given fuel to the divisive politics of Thackerays but plz understand that d only reason they are nt going all out on this is coz a large part of the Marathi population supports this....And this is the difference...When Leftists are trying to bring reforms, WB is shifting to Mamta....what can a politician do????
ReplyDeleteI think a few corrections are due here.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, the issue is not that of Congress policy on the whole. The issue is of the lack of action on the part of the Maharashtra government. That the Congress is pro-reform is beyond question.
Secondly, to say that economic reforms do not have popular support in Maharashtra is very very wrong. I think you are being very judgmental when you say that the current plight of Maharashtra is on account of an attitudinal problem amongst its people. Popular support amongst Maharashtrians for the Sena's cause (not the means) has existed for the past four decades.It surely did not impede Maharashtra's growth then! While an enabling political environment is a necessity for growth, its influence is being over-estimated by you. After all, the 2001 riots did not affect Gujarat's image. (contd)...
(contd)...
ReplyDeleteThe fact is Maharashtra's attractiveness has not waned because of the high decibel campaign of the Thackerays. It has come down primarily because of an unfavourable economic climate caused due to government apathy. The government does not take decisions on crucial sectors like infrastructure, education, agriculture, etc and in the process Maharashtra loses out to other pro-active states. However, I must add that the shrill campaign does add to the negativity.
Thirdly, to say that the Congress is not hand in glove with Raj Thackeray is nonsense. Even kids in Mumbai will tell you that the Congress is propelling Raj Thackeray to split the Sena vote bank.
Finally, I do not believe Reliance or any other corporate will not shift out of Maharashtra unless there is a strong economic and financial rationale to the move. I am sure Ambani does not take such decisions just because of some campaign carried out by rabble rousers.
@kunal...
ReplyDeleteThanks...Will definitely try and present a more nuanced view...
Hey gaitonde...nice start dude....i always believed u had the politics 'keeda' in u....Well me being a Gujarat resident, believe that the CM in our state has begun to develop the state on quite an impressive scale....Well dont worry dude, u'll get better with age just like wine does ;)
ReplyDeleteDrop by my blogsite whenever u get time.....
http://road-to-sanitarium.blogspot.com/
Adios and keep up the posting.....
Gai you are contradicting urself....u r saying that he congress is supporting Raj Tackeray to split sena's vote bank, implicit assumption is that a vote bank exists for such politics, so it's nt d govt's fault. Stop supporting them and this will stop....As far as last few decades are concerned, u should accept the fact even then, development happened only in Mumbai, coz of trading communities like Gujaratis only, who nw want to focus on their own state coz of several reasons. And m nt talking only about maharashtra, i hv given u a good example of WB...if u think ur people r pro-reforms, just tell me hw many maharashtrians wll agree to allow private sourcing of grains even today...smething which gujarat did 5 yrs back....development in maharashtra ws always limited to mumbai only, vidarbha ws always there, it is still there....
ReplyDeleteAnd again, u hv a judgement that maharashtra's attractiveness is nt affected by the campaign, it's nt about safety, it's bout the pride of these trading communities, the pride ws always there nd d divide ws always there, d reason why gujaratis live together and marathis live together separately...The finacial rationalle ws always there fr Reliance to move out, Gujarat gave them land to develop an SEZ of 32000 acres, maharashtra didn't give them land fr d maha-mumbai SEZ, d difference :)
I havent contradicted myself in any way...I have stated facts...Like I mentioned there is a vote bank for the 'cause' not the means.... And I am not surprised it exists... When you say that the development of Mumbai happened ONLY because of trading communities like the Gujaratis and the Marwaris you are taking away credit from the Maharashtrians, the South Indians and the North Indians who toiled as much to make Mumbai what it is.It is this attitude of looking down upon that gets the goat of the Maharashtrians. After all they are entitled to as much pride as any other trading community. Please note that Mumbai has been built by the hard work of ALL these communities residing within it.
ReplyDelete(contd)...
(contd)..
ReplyDeleteThe other problem I think is that the issue of 'Marathi asmita' is blown out of proportion. The issue exists but it is often over-hyped by the media. The problem does not exist as much on the street as it exists in television studios. I also did not say that the issue does not create negativity. It does. But to say that capital moving out of Maharashtra is a result of only this issue is wrong.
You are also factually incorrect on many counts. Maharashtra's industrial prosperity is not simply restricted to Mumbai. Rather it is restricted to the Mumbai-Pune-Nashik triangle.
Also, the regions of Western Maharashtra including Pune, Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur are amongst the most prosperous in the country. While Marathwada, Konkan and Vidharba have been laggards in development, Vidarbha's plight from what I am aware of was caused in part due to the BT cotton and repeated crop failures.
While you quoted examples of Maha-Mumbai SEZ, the fact is that Maharashtra is not anti-reform can be gauged by the fact that Maharashtra has the most number of SEZs in the country. And please tell me why would a Maharashtrian farmer oppose contract farming? To my knowlegde contract farming is as prevalent in Western Maharashtra as it is in certain other areas of the country. While you gave the example of the Maha-Mumbai SEZ, I may start by recommending that you read about the Magarpatta SEZ in Pune which was started by a group of farmers. The model used by then could serve as an example of how SEZs are to be managed.
All in all my blog was not about the issue you are talking about. It was about the laxity of the state government. I think you are giving undue importance to the issue than warranted.
See you may be right on certain counts, but the fact is that almost all of maharashtra's revenue comes from mumbai...the areas u r claiming to be prosperous, I hv nt heard bout any of them...I never talked bout d means, but d issue which u say exists, is against d whole idea of democracy...and m nt taking away d credit frm anyone but everyone knows d contribution and power of gujaratis in Mumbai...since m nt a gujarati myself, u shd nt take it personally...jst leave all this
ReplyDeleteMy whole point was that till d time, ppl of maharashtra will give importance to issues other than development while electing d govt., one shdn't expect d govt to focus on development leaving behind d issues on which it expects to get votes....d day ppl of maharashtra wll start voting fr development, every political party wll hv to focus on that...I think u shd agree wid me on this
People of maharashtra do give importance to development... The problem is, they dont have a choice.. On the one hand, you have a government that does not work...And on the other you have an opposition that does not talk about the bread and butter issues... The fact that the Sena hasn't won any major election in the past few years should tell you that people are not in favour of its policies.
ReplyDeletegood one gai!!i wont comment on wat u wrote coz me n politics dont go too well!! :D liked ur name though! "A GAI's VIEW" brilliantly innovative!! Cant wait for ur other blogs!!!
ReplyDeleteMy knowledge on this matter is nowhere near you but what I hv read in news is that Sena is not winning coz the votes r getting divided bw sena and MNS.... if this is nt so, they wll hv 2 change their agenda ultimately, jst like BJP had to change theirs :)
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