Maratha Knots

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange called off his Mumbai march after being assured that his demands would be met and an ordinance issued soon. But there is still lack of clarity on what would be the scope of the ordinance to grant Marathas of Kunbi lineage access to quotas under the OBC category. One version is that all of Jarange’s demands have been met. This view is countered by commentators who point out that the promise of extending quotas to Kunbi-Marathas and their kin will depend on proof of lineage that may not be so easily available. There is a simmering backlash as well evident from the comments of Chhagan Bhujbal, prominent OBC leader and state minister who decried the ‘backdoor’ entry of Marathas into the OBC category. Union Minister Narayan Rane said the decision could lead to unrest and is an encroachment on the rights of backward communities. The BJP leadership has been caught in a bind for some time now over resolving the Maratha puzzle as it has tried to balance the socially and politically assertive caste group with OBC sentiments. The presence of Maratha leaders in the ruling coalition—boosted after the Ajit Pawar faction of NCP joined the BJP-Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena coalition—has strengthened BJP’s hand. While the quota is still a work in progress, success in getting Jarange to call off his proposed march and breaking his fast at the instance of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde is definitely a respite.

Testing Times

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s annual interaction with students preparing for their board exams, called Pariksha pe Charcha, calls for considerable preparation. All aspects of the forthcoming examinations, including sifting the voluminous feedback from students and parents, kept officials busy through the Republic Day extended weekend when many people looked to travel to holiday destinations. The feedback was parsed for relevant issues the prime minister would be expected to address during his nationally televised interaction. Each year’s edition is different, with changes in examination formats and new syllabi generating fresh queries and challenges. Modi’s central theme is to encourage students to excel but to also avoid the trap of being weighed down by expectations and peer pressure. The idea is to help students do their best and yet not see the school examinations as the end of the world if results are below average. The introduction of a national-level entrance test to colleges and universities has reduced the salience of the dreaded boards and provides students appearing across a range of Central and state examinations a level playing field. Meanwhile, for officials working through the holiday weekend, it was a case of a test before the finals. With Lok Sabha polls fast approaching, there is going to be no let-up in the schedule of parikshas that lie ahead.

Hindi Divide

DMK criticised the departure of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar from the I.N.D.I.A. formation, saying this was a “gain” for the opposition. But in the process, it exposed some raw nerves and faultlines within the anti-BJP camp. DMK leader TR Baalu, not known for subtlety, said Kumar seemed to have had some “issues” right from the start and was insistent on the use of Hindi at alliance meetings. Baalu’s reference was to reports that DMK representatives had sought an English translation of Kumar’s remarks during an I.N.D.I.A. meeting which had irked the Bihar leader. Kumar was understood to have said that there was no need for a translation and it was time Hindi was understood by everyone. The rebuke seems to have lingered in Baalu’s memory. Public memory is notoriously short but Baalu couldn’t have forgotten DMK’s stint as a partner of BJP and member of NDA. DMK’s membership of NDA coincided with the party’s archrival AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa being chief minister of Tamil Nadu. The Jayalalithaa government had arrested DMK leaders, including then party chief K Karunanidhi, Murasoli Maran and Baalu in a controversial action in 2001. At the time Maran and Baalu were Union ministers, but this didn’t deter Jayalalithaa in the least. Baalu dialled BJP leaders from his prison cell, and though a poor signal complicated matters, language didn’t appear to be a hurdle.

Neutrality Matters

Amid the current storm battering the opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc, two chief ministers are likely to be feeling vindicated about having no truck with the anti-BJP experiment. Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart YS Jagan Mohan Reddy have steadfastly kept away from the opposition ‘khichdis’ cooked before elections. In 2019, too, the almost same set of opposition parties had sought to pool their strength against BJP. There were hectic air dashes by leaders like TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu (now not part of I.N.D.I.A.) and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. A set of leaders, including NCP chief Sharad Pawar, approached the Supreme Court seeking a return to paper ballots to ensure ‘fair’ elections. The results clearly showed that the manoeuvres did not succeed. Patnaik and Reddy have been of the view that there is no political benefit in attacking Prime Minister Modi at a personal level and that it might be wiser to project themselves as viable regional choices. They have also seen the merit of not being on the wrong side of developments like the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Patnaik, in fact, made it a point to post images of himself sitting with trusted aide VK Pandian watching the Ayodhya proceedings on television. Another chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, while part of I.N.D.I.A., also made it a point to publicly back the Ram Mandir event as a day of pride. He took part in prayer ceremonies while AAP held bhandaras (free meals) to mark the occasion. On the other hand, Congress leaders raised questions about the temple being ‘incomplete’ and the event being a Sangh Parivar show.

A Case for Nari Shakti

The Republic Day parade and cultural show was intended to highlight Nari Shakti (woman power) with a strong female representation. The marching units and cultural displays received loud applause from the audience as well as from the stands seating senior political leaders and Union ministers. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was on her feet cheering every contingent that went by. The Republic Day proceedings were perhaps a welcome break from the hectic preparations for the interim Budget speech which was her sixth successive one. Before the finance portfolio, Sitharaman was defence minister, the first woman to hold the brief full-time. Not a bad advertisement for Nari Shakti at all.

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