Kolhapur Bypoll result, Loudspeaker issue & Raj Thackeray!
Kolhapur Election Analysis
The result of the recently held Kolhapur North Bypoll election is out. Congress candidate Jayashree Jadhav has won with a margin of over 18000 votes. BJP’s candidate Satyajit KAdam managed to get 77,000 votes. Even if the BJP is getting excited of their vote share being doubled since 2014, let me try to put forth a few different angles here. So, in 2014 when BJP candidate Mahesh Jadhav had contested this seat, he had managed to get approximately 40,000 votes. So in short, overall BJP has around 40,000 strong vote base in Kolhapur since 2014. (NOW) BJP candidate Satyajit (Nana) Kadam already has his own base of approx 40,000 votes and not since now, but since ages. So in total 40,000 (+/-10%) since 2014 + Sanjay Kadam’s 40,000 vote bank is exactly what BJP scored in 2022 right? That’s 77,000 votes! Now tell me, these votes would have anyways come for the BJP right? Then what has State President Chandrakant Dada Patil achieved by sitting in Kolhapur for the last 6 months? His statement of “I will go to the Himalaya’s if Kadam gets defeated”, was it purely out of overconfidence? If the BJP State President could not even get 5000, or even 10,000 NEW votes in the last 6 months, tell me what does the High Command do now? Entire dynamics would have changed and BJP could have even won, had Dada put in more effort. Merely importing Satyajit Kadam wasn’t enough. If Satyajit Kadam had stood from any other party he would have managed the same approx 40,000 votes, so it’s not that he got these many votes because he is in BJP. But if this entirely cannot be blamed on Chandrakant Patil alone, then now he should make way for a more aggressive or a person having better organisational skills to handle the state BJP! My bet would be on Shelar or Mungantiwar or even Padalkar. But certainly, we have to give credit to the master planner Satej Patil and also to Shivsena’s ‘Mumbai pattern’, said a journalist to me who was at Kolhapur to cover the by polls for the Congress’s victory. He said, there were many voters who had/wanted to switch their loyalties from the Sena and vote for the BJP in Kolhapur, but Sena arranged their Sainiks to man the buildings and colonies even at nights so that the BJP does not reach the voters and vice-versa.
Moving on–Talks are that MSRDC will get its new boss after the inauguration of Samruddhi highway on May 1st. Chances are of a handsome South Indian Doctor replacing MD Radhyesham Mopalwar. I don’t say this with conviction because all this depends only on one condition–if Mr Mopalwar wants to retire!
Will the loudspeaker issue blow out of proportion?
Yes, it will! It has already started in Delhi. And here from Mumbra, the Popular Front of India (PFI) slogan, “Chedenge, to Chodenge Nahi” has surely touched the wrong chords of few! To top that, Home Minister’s stand on Loudspeakers that henceforth you will need permission to install a loudspeaker for any religious activity, and Nashik CP Deepak Pandey’s diktat that “no Bhajan or Hanuman Chailsa to be allowed to play within 15 minutes before and after Azan. It will not be allowed within 100 meters of the mosque, The aim of this order is to maintain law & order.”, I am telling you with such statements we are heading towards a RIOT situation. So what does it mean? To read between the lines of Deepak Pandey’s orders, all restrictions are for HINDU’s only na? How convenient Mr Pandey! Anyways, being a peace-lover myself, I faced a lot of flak for being neutral on this issue when I was interviewed by a few YouTubers. Boss, in the first place I was against this loudspeaker issue to be raised either by the BJP or MNS AT THIS TIME. Currently, there is so much political turmoil (If Sharad Pawar’s house can be attacked, anything can happen ) in Maharashtra, secondly we are just trying to stand up after 2 years of Corona. We have gone back 5 years in our lives (90% of us working class) and even today we are coping to put everything behind us and fighting to survive. And now if over this loudspeaker issue, God-forbid if riots break out we commoners will again be thrown back big time. Every issue has a time and a place! Again, what is illegal (loudspeakers and the decibel issue) is illegal. It has to be tackled tactfully without disturbing the social fabric of the society!
Raj Thackeray!!
It was me who was the happiest when I heard Raj Thackeray on the 2nd April and then on the 13th of April. Finally he had found ‘the right partner’ after winking to all of them for all these years (Nor yet formally). If it is true, then it is a win-win for both the MNS and the BJP, as MNS would have got support from the Centre, and here in the state BJP will now have the required ‘muscle power’ to combat the NCP-Shivsena and Congress. But now a little different perspective! If you readers are observing since the time Raj Thackeray made his speech on the Gudi Padwa, it has been only Raj Thackeray everywhere. So much so that even the likes of Ajit PAwar, Supriya Sule and Aaditya Thackeray on the day of Hanuman Jayanti went to the temple and chanted the aarti. No problems at all, if it is because of Raj Thackeray. Problem I foresee is for the BJP now. Suddenly after Raj Thackeray has entered the scene, BJP has taken a back seat (forcibly) and apart from its 2 or 3 familiar faces, every other BJP leader too, has gone into hibernation. Time for REST of BJP Maharashtra leaders to come out in open and pull up their socks and work. Else, Raj is taking your credit away. But then a senior politician told me that Vikrant when IFFCO TOKIO had come in the market and had a budget of Rs. 500 crores for their advertisements, guess who benefited the most at that time? It was LIC, he said! Surprising right? I asked why? This politician said, Vikrant, people already had their trust in the LIC who had branches all over India, they were more structured, had public faith and also had organisation structure set up across to take care of their clients!! I just smiled!!
Vikrant Hemant Joshi
