In politics, especially in India, an axiomatic truth is that there is no permanent enemy or permanent friend. Hence, it is only natural to expect strange bed-fellows when it comes to forming political alliances and more so when stakes are high where spoils of offices are to be shared by hook or by crook. In such situations, so-called political ideologies are thrown to the wind and sworn enemies embrace one another as friends for benefit.
India has experienced the phenomenon at such nauseating regularity that it has ceased to cause any surprise. But what happened recently in two municipal areas of Ambernath and Arkot in Maharashtra can be termed as political opportunism of the worst variety as sworn enemies – BJP, Congress and AIMIM – buried the hatchet, threw away all scruples and joined hands to form the two municipalities and share power. It was the height of opportunism when BJP units tied up with the Congress at Ambernath in Thane and the AIMIM at Akot in Akola to gain majority control in the two local bodies following the municipal elections last month. One may view the development as a small aberration in some far-away local bodies and may even discard the event as too insignificant, but the die has been cast. The claim of an “ideological battle” as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been saying or “Congress Mukt Bharat” as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been personally repeating for over a decade now, not only ring hollow but represent a naked alliance of opportunism that is obviously accepted and blessed by both these two top leaders. It would be hypocrisy on the part of leaders of any of the three parties to claim they are unaware about the greed and lack of principles of their party functionaries.
The fact that the brazenness with which political opportunism has been displayed must not be considered as isolated instances. It rather reflects the moral and ideological bankruptcy of the country’s top political class. The apparent ideological battles that are fought are only a smokescreen to fool the average voter. The message that emanates from the actions of the elected representatives of the three parties appears to be that they should not lag behind when political opportunism at any cost is the norm at their respective parties’ top levels. Had it not been so, they would not have dared take the reprehensible course. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed his party to break both alliances while saying they were “not acceptable.” At the same time, the Congress dissolved the party’s city unit in Ambernath and suspended its chief Pradip Patil while the AIMIM warned its corporators in Akot, which falls in the Vidarbha region, of legal action if they did not pull out from the BJP alliance.
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Fadnavis has said “alliance with Congress and AIMIM is not acceptable, and disciplinary action will be taken if anybody has violated orders.” Maharashtra BJP chief Ravindra Chavan also issued a show cause notice to party MLA Prakash Bharsakhle, who represents Akot, for the “suo motu” AIMIM alliance. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Congress vice-president Ganesh Patil said in a letter to its Ambernath unit chief that the municipal election was fought on the party’s symbol. He warned disciplinary action would be taken against the unit for “allying with the BJP in the Ambernath municipal council without informing the state office.” It said that the block Congress committee was dissolved and all corporators suspended from the party.
Pradip Patil, however, accused the state leadership of not giving him a hearing before announcing the disciplinary action and threatened to join the BJP. The conclusion he has reached is not only the height of political dishonesty, but takes rank opportunism to another level. He said he and his pack of party leaders “respect the Congress and will continue to do so in future,” but if they are insulted by the party they would have “no option but to join the BJP.” And as is well known, the BJP would certainly take them in. This is a familiar political trajectory that the BJP top leadership has advocated and followed during the past few years in different states and at the national level when they broke Congress and other Opposition parties, poached their MLAs and MPs to form new governments toppling those run by the Opposition. They even used Central investigating machinery to go after Opposition leaders and coerce them to join their party.
Some Social Media users compare this tactic of the BJP with the work of a “washing machine” in which the taint of corruption in Opposition leaders is washed clean once they enter the BJP fold. Congress too cannot walk a moral high ground just as any other party. The Maharashtra civic body scandals have shown Indian politics in its true colours. When top leaders are always seen to have engineered defections, get the defectors absolved of any past crime or corruption and grab power at any cost, why should the lower rungs of the party be denied the same immorality is the moot point. Thus, it is only the people who become the losers but never the ruling political class.