Ashok Chavan: Today's politics unethical, aimless; akin to 'IPL auctions'

By Quaid Najmi
Nanded, July 15 (IANS) Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok S. Chavan has said that the present-day politics in the country has been reduced to an "IPL auction", with most politicians coming across as uncommitted and unprincipled, and the masses are detesting the downfall of ethics in public life.

In a scathing critique, Chavan said that everyone should have full commitment to their work, in whichever field they may be serving, to contribute meaningfully to the society and nation.

"What is the status today... The level of politics has stooped to abysmal lows. 'Auctions' are going on like the IPL matches. Everything is set aside and people are being 'bought and sold' ... Someone is here today, there tomorrow, and elsewhere the next day. There are no scruples or ethics left anymore in public life," rued Chavan, referring to the recent political dramatics witnessed by Maharashtra.

He lamented that even the Anti-Defection laws have been discarded and in the high courts and the Supreme Court, the situation is marked by "tarikh pe tarikh" (repeated postponements).

"Now, politics has become directionless, we don't know where we are heading to... These days, when we meet any leader, we don't know which party he/she belongs to, or which faction in that party he/she is aligned with," said Chavan, 65, who ruled the state twice (December 2008-November 2009 & November 2009-November 2010).

The ex-Chief Minister's clear hint was at the breakaway factions of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party - which vertically split in June 2022 and July 2023 respectively, with the factions led by CM Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

Chavan's sharp comments came on the 103rd birth anniversary of his illustrious father, the former Union Minister and two-time CM, the late Shankarrao B. Chavan (February 1975-May 1977 & March 1986-June 1988), to give away memorial awards named after his mother, Kusum Shankarrao Chavan.

Slamming the "politics of convenience" that has become fashionable in the country, the senior Congress leader labelled it as "completely bereft of commitment or purpose".

Citing an example, Chavan said that in June, 2022, the Shinde group of MLAs toppled the then Shiv Sena President and MVA Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray complaining that the Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who handled the Finance Department at that time was "discriminating against them".

"Look at their predicament today... The same Dada (Ajit Pawar) because of whom they left Shiv Sena, is now back as the NCP's Deputy CM and Finance Minister... So these MLAs will have no compunctions about returning to the party again, but whether to take them or not will be Thackeray's call, I will not say anything," asserted Chavan.

He lamented that compared to the good old days, the country's politics has become "tremendously polluted", and it was a tragedy that even a politically-stable state like Maharashtra should experience the same.

"I have watched the political situation very closely with stalwarts like Vasantrao Naik, S. B. Chavan, Vasantrao Patil, Sharad Pawar, Abdul Rehman Antulay, Babasaheb Bhosale, Vilasrao Deshmukh, Sushilkumar Shinde, their careers and roles, working styles and the development of the state under them..." recalled Chavan.

Chiding the "ayarams-gayarams", he said that those who claim to have switched sides in the name of public service are just fooling the people with their immoral and uncommitted style of politics.

"Can you honestly say what your purpose in public life is, your commitment, what you have to offer to the society... Are you doing it right or wrong? Do the people support what’s going on? The politicians must seriously introspect to find out," urged Chavan.

He warned that the people of Maharashtra have not taken kindly to the current political goings-on beyond a certain level and they will not like it in the future – hinting at a possible backlash.

(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: [email protected])