Mr Clean, act

Maharashtra CM can no longer cite graft to delay decisions, and not work with the NCP

It doesn't require a Mumbai domicile to notice the discernible drag in the functioning of the Maharashtra government over the last two years. Much to the embarrassment of Prithviraj Chavan, this drag has been co-terminus with his appointment by the Congress leadership as chief minister in November 2010. You don't need to go far to find the reasons for the freeze in decision-making.

Prithviraj is upright, but unlike others who have had long stints heading the state, he is not really a grassroots politician. He did not cut his teeth in cooperatives like Sharad Pawar or climb the political ladder as a sarpanch like Vilasrao Deshmukh. His writ could still have ruled, had Maharashtra been a single-party governed state. But coalitions — a reality in the state since 1995 — require a shrewd manager with political acumen and coordination skills, if not overpowering stature. Prithviraj, unfortunately, has neither. But he wears honesty and integrity on his sleeve, qualities few politicians in the state possess.

In the last 23 months, his actions, or rather inaction, on various fronts has been attributed to the imperative to address the gradual erosion of public confidence in the government and politicians. The irregularities in the Adarsh Housing Society affair may have compromised his predecessor Ashok Chavan. In fact, the latter's act of allegedly managing three flats for members of his family in the south Mumbai apartment complex appeared to exemplify the degradation that has permeated public life. So a clean-up was inevitable. The irregularities in the irrigation projects, talked about since 2009, have now consumed the NCP's star leader Ajit Pawar, even if it is only till the state publishes a white paper. PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbal (NCP), Water Resources Minister Sunil Tatkare (NCP), Transport Minister Gulabrao Deokar (Congress) and Education Minister Rajendra Darda (Congress), who have been embroiled in scams, do not inspire confidence and would do better to pave the way for a more sanitised administration.

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