Empty choices

Whatever the final outcome,the Gopinath Munde-Congress courtship dance has been going on for weeks now,after Lok Sabhas deputy leader of the opposition made his disillusionment with his party clear. Munde expressed his hurt and humiliation at being sidelined in the BJP a sense of belittlement he has carried around ever since his brother-in-law and powerful benefactor Pramod Mahajan died,and after his chief competitor Nitin Gadkari was elevated to party president. Earlier,Gadkari and Munde had struggled to enlarge their own imprint on the Maharashtra unit,and Munde had similarly threatened to quit back in 2008. However,the fact that Munde and the Congress could be even contemplating each other as potential options points to the drift and lack of real conviction in Maharashtras politics.

The question of personal profit and loss dictates political allegiance,rather than any larger agenda. All four major parties are virtually indistinguishable in their governance agendas,and any public rivalry between them is understood to be a provisional matter,to be thrown over when a local election demands teamwork. The BJP keeps the MNS as a possible alternative to its current partner,the Shiv Sena; the Congress also covertly encourages it to undercut the Sena. The BJP has supported NCP candidates in local elections. Meanwhile,the Congress and NCP relationship is even more dysfunctional the Congress has partnered with the Sena,the BJP and independents in certain local body elections,while the NCP has done the same to defeat the Congress.

In a situation of such flux and a vacuum of ideas,what remains is the pursuit of power once an individual has acquired enough equity among the people and within the party,it becomes a tradable commodity. There is little sign of a larger,purposeful vision for Maharashtra despite crises in employment,housing,and infrastructure,and out-of-control levels of sleaze and institutional corruption,its politics is stuck on identity squabbles. So even if Gopinath Munde has an array of options before him now,its really nobody elses gain but his.