Tag: sharad pawar

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Big story

Shops will remain open despite LBT strike

It’s Sharad Pawar to the rescue as the agitation over LBT is suspended to Friday; Pawar has promised final solution.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

After a serious hit to business and several problems caused to consumers as shops – small and big – threatened to remain shut indefinitely in protest of the State Government’s decision to implement LBT (Local Body Tax), NCP chief Sharad Pawar has staved off the agitation for a while.

After a meeting held with representatives of various trading and retailer organisations at his residence at Yeoor today, Pawar has asked the traders to suspend their strike and meet him again on Friday, May 24, at his residence for a final meeting on the LBT issue. “He has assured us that the meeting will continue for as long as it takes to resolve the issue,” said Viren Shah (President of the Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association) to The Metrognome, minutes after the meeting was completed with Pawar today. “We had a wonderful meeting with him and he has assured us of a solution to the issue,” Shah added. As of now, Shah clarified, “The strike continues but FRTWA has asked all individual shops to remain open.”

Pune and Thane have already suspended the strike. It is likely that Mumbai’s traders will also follow suit by tomorrow.

LBT (Local Body Tax) is the tax which will be imposed by municipal bodies on the entry of goods into a local area for consumption, use or sale. It relies on a self assessment or account-based method of paying local tax, where the trader himself declares his tax liability by submitting his records.

The representatives included Navi Mumbai Merchants’ director Amarshi Karia, APMC Director Kirti Rana, Siddhivinayak Chairman Subhash Mayekar, FRTWA’s Viren Shah and Navi Mumbai Merchant Chambers’ Girish Rana, among others.

On his part, it is learnt that Pawar has agreed that if octroi is payable on a good/commodity, then dealers are not required to undergo the registration for LBT. He is also said to have been convinced that shopkeepers need not register if there is no octroi or LBT payable by them, and that he realised that traders wished to pay tax without any harassment or extra paperwork. Pawar also requested traders to open for business without causing further problems to the public.

What happened in the meeting

The meeting opened with the representatives explaining that traders were on strike for the last 27 days, and retailers for six days. “I argued that shopkeepers, who have nothing to do with goods brought from outside the city, have nothing to do with LBT. So why do they need to take registration and file any returns?” Shah (in pic on right) said. Another point raised was that traders were willing to pay tax, but that they refused to go for “extra registration and extra assessment”.

As per the current framework of LBT as laid out by the Government, even the smallest shops with a daily turnover of Rs 822 and above would have to take a separate registration, to which Pawar was said to be shocked. The assembled group suggested that the Sales Tax Department should handle the administration of LBT and also the assessment, as against the idea of the local municipal body doing the same, since the latter are “not experienced enough to do the assessment”.

The representatives also pointed out several lacunae in the proposed LBT move. “For instance, officers ask for assessment proceedings along with details, which are impossible for dealers to produce,” explained Shah. “Hence, corruption is happening in Vasai and many have shifted to Gujarat. Again, in Navi Mumbai, those items for sale such as fruits and spices that are not liable for LBT are also charged LBT. This has led to a ‘double taxation’ in Navi Mumbai’s APMC market.”

(Pictures courtesy www.jaimaharashtranews.com, photogallery.indiatimes.com, www.topnews.in)

Categories
Diaries

Politician of the year

Prithviraj Chavan learnt the ropes very quickly in Maharashtra. He was a key player in the State’s politics this year.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Part 5 of the Yearender Diaries

Prithviraj Chavan took over as Maharashtra’s Chief Minister at a really tumultuous time in the State’s political scene. The other Chavan – Ashok, of the Adarsh Housing Scam – had just been removed as CM, several names in the Government were tumbling out of the closet for their complicity in the Scam, and the Congress urgently needed to appoint a new, squeaky clean CM.

The question was: who was non-controversial enough to take over the CM’s post?

Reportedly, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was upset over the idea of sending his trusted lieutenant, Prithviraj Chavan, to head Maharashtra. Chavan had been Singh’s main troubleshooter for the longest time in Delhi, but the decision was finally made and Chavan left for Maharashtra.

Says a Government official who worked with Chavan when he first assumed the CM’s office, “He actually wasn’t well-versed with Maharashtra and its ways. He didn’t know most of the State’s politicians, apart from the very prominent ones. It took him a while to match the faces to the names.”

Satish Lalit, the CM’s chief PRO says, “He came from a very structured working background in Delhi, where everybody met him only after prior appointment. Over here, people just barge into ministers’ offices, and any appointments happen by sending a visiting card to the CM five minutes earlier. He (Chavan) found this really strange.” Adds another official, “He still does not like to meet people all the time, but he has made his peace with it.”

Those in the know will testify that Chavan works very late nights – Satish says his staff works till 10.30 pm daily – and that he watches the news on TV till the wee hours of the morning, before sleeping awhile and waking up for a game of badminton before starting work. “I have not seen too many politicians in his position keep abreast of the latest happenings the way he does,” Satish says. “He is always reading and researching; I think this comes from his BITS Pilani background, but there is no denying that he is uncommonly astute and a very quick learner.”

There is no doubt that Chavan has not only learnt the ropes of a gigantic State quickly enough, but he has also become a dependable face in Maharashtra politics at a very testing time – the Congress in the State is increasingly at loggerheads with its ally, the NCP (despite Chavan’s good ties with NCP chief Sharad Pawar), the irrigation scam is still an unresolved issue that Chavan will have to answer for sooner than later, and he is said to have several enemies within his own party. There are also rumblings, on and off, about him being recalled to Delhi.

Overall, this year belonged to Chavan, with a number of important decisions and incidents to his credit. He took a couple of tough decisions that impacted the builder lobby in Mumbai, but overall, showed remarkable keenness to drive foreign investment to the State. Another development that can be credited to him was the long-pending Indu Mill land transfer early this month. But his biggest achievement this year was the total secrecy he and his office maintained over the hanging of 26/11 terrorist Ajmal Kasab till it actually happened; this made Chavan an instant celebrity all over the country, with the media marvelling at the two-week silence over the operation. His Government was also credited for its efficiency during the mammoth funeral for Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray in November.

Observers say that Chavan has mastered the trick of being highly visible while at work, without appearing to do so, and that he knows how to capitalise on an issue and muzzle his detractors.

Besides all of this, there’s something about the man that inspires confidence. He is tremendously fit at age 65, he is a sharp dresser, he is extremely articulate (he switches easily between Marathi, Hindi and English, unlike most State politicians) and he is not known to pass flippant comments or be anything but politically correct. “You have to read between the lines when you’re speaking to him,” says an official. “He is not given to verbosity at all. And if something false or derogatory is written about him in the papers or shown on the channels, he doesn’t get rattled by it.”

One thing people do fault him for, however, is that he almost always reaches late for any event. “He is always late,” chuckles a journalist. “But it seems that he is constantly working, always travelling, sometimes covering two or three places in a day.”

‘Diaries’ is a series of stories on one theme. The Yearender Diaries seek to capture the most telling moments, happenings and people in the city this year. Watch out for Issue of the Year tomorrow.

(Picture courtesy jaimaharashtranews.com)

 

 

Categories
Big story

Ajit Pawar returns?

Two months ago, Ajit Pawar resigned as the State’s Deputy Chief Minister after allegations of corruption. Is he returning soon?
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

A series of scams and financial irregularities committed by the State in irrigation led to the September 25 resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. Yesterday, a white paper on irrigation was placed before the State Government, and it does not mention any of the irregularities committed by the Water Resources Department, that was headed by Pawar. With just days to go before the Winter Session of the State Legislature takes place in Nagpur, the big question is:

Is Ajit Pawar coming back?

Pawar, who belongs to the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and is nephew to NCP chief Sharad Pawar, is said to be desperate for a comeback, but the Government will have to play its cards right, especially with the Session coming up on December 11. There were talks in the NCP camp of Pawar’s comeback even before the white paper meeting took place last evening. It is also doubly suspicious that the white paper seemingly skirts all issues of corruption and merely lists the projects approved by the State in the last decade. The fact – and this was what made Pawar resign this year – that as much as Rs 35,000 crore has reportedly been siphoned off by the politician-contractor nexus in dud irrigation projects in the last 10 years, finds not the remotest mention in the white paper.

The NCP is reportedly already proclaiming that the reentry of Ajit Pawar into the State’s politics, in an official capacity, is only a matter of time, and that the timing would be decided by Sharad Pawar. However, any haste in the matter will reflect badly on the Government, say observers.

With a very ‘white’ white paper presented, and which glosses over any wrongdoing on the part of politicians and State bureaucrats, it seems that the entire exercise will only serve to bring Aijt Pawar back.

(Picture courtesy hindustantimes.com)

 

 

 

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Guest writer

Shiv Sena at the crossroads

Prakash Bal Joshi analyses Bal Thackeray’s recent speech, and if Uddhav and Raj will combine forces for the next elections.

For the first time in the last 46 years, Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray addressed the Shiv Sena rally at Shivaji Park through a pre-recorded video of his speech, indicating clear sings of ageing. His absence may have disappointed the Sainiks, but his speech, which lacked the usual Tiger roar, touched an emotional cord. Not only Sainiks present at Shivaji Park, but also those who heard him speak were moved. It was one of the most effective speeches he has ever delivered.

A cartoonist who mesmerised generation after generation, and kept addressing them from Shivaji Park without fail, the Shiv Sena chief today stands at a crossroads. He clearly indicated who the heir apparent is, and made an emotive appeal to his followers to take care of his son and acting president of Shiv Sena, Uddhav, and his grandson Aditya, who leads the youth brigade of the party. He made the appeal with folded hands, and showed how deeply wounded he was due to split in the party when Raj Thackeray left the Sena camp a few years ago.

It was not a speech but a dialogue in his typically aggressive, derisive and most graphic style – as if he is talking to his followers in person. Anybody who listened to him was convinced that the Sena is currently down but not out –  there is still hope if his supporters keep their faith in the organisation and the leadership of his son, who is leading it from the front.

The demographic profile of Mumbai has changed drastically during the last four decades, but Thackeray is not willing give up his Marathi domination over the metropolis. He lashed out against his pet object – NCP president Sharad Pawar – for eulogising the multilingual culture of Mumbai, warning him that the Sena will not allow political power to slip out of Marathi hands in the state capital. His next target was the Gandhi family leading the Congress Party – Sonia, Rahul, Priyanka, Robert and their political advisor Ahmed Patel.

Though it was basically an emotional appeal where Thackeray Sr talked about becoming an 85-year-old and described his physical condition, he also talked about some hard facts of politics. He reiterated that the Sena would continue its Sons of the Soil agenda, but at the same time, it will pursue politics of hard Hindutva – a strategy which helped catapult the party to power in Maharashtra in 1995.

He touched the most crucial and dominating issue of corruption by attacking Sharad Pawar on Lavasa, lambasting the Manmohan Singh government for Coalgate and other scams, and describing the situation by talking of India as a ‘country of cheats’. In his inimitable style, he also criticised people for ‘taking notes for giving votes’ and later joining anti-corruption agitations.

Thackeray has been adjusting his strategy from time to time to take note of the changing socio-political climate in the State, though his focus always remained the Marathi manoos and militant Hindutva. His concern appears to be an anxiety about whether Uddhav would be equally quick and sharp to navigate the Sena, since he is now almost out of action due to his age.

The coming elections will be test by fire for Uddhav’s leadership, who proved his mettle by reasserting the Sena’s position in the last Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) elections, where his detractors tried their best to upstage him. Will he be able to capture power with the help of the BJP, which is facing its own crisis of leadership?

Aspirations and needs of the Marathi manoos in Mumbai have drastically changed since Thackeray launched the Shiv Sena way back in the late 1960s. Much will depend on how Uddhav fine-tunes the Sena apparatus before the coming elections. He may well have to compete with, as well as compromise with his cousin Raj, if he wants to take Balasaheb’s legacy forward.

Prakash Bal Joshi is a senior political journalist, who last worked with The Times of India, Mumbai. He is also an acclaimed artist and painter.

 

 

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