निलेश लंके  महाराष्ट्रातल्या निवडणुकीतला एक जायंट किलर

महाराष्ट्रातून लोकसभेच्या निवडणुका लढलेल्या प्रमुख राजकीय पक्षांच्या उमेदवारांच्या आणि निवडून आलेल्या लोकांच्या नावांकडे नजर फिरवली तर यापैकी बहुतेक जण प्रस्थापित आहेत हे सहज लक्षात येते.

बहुतेक उमेदवारांना कौटुंबिक राजकीय वारसा होता.

या नव्या ४८ खासदारांमध्ये केवळ एक जण जायंट किलर ठरला आहे.

हे नवे खासदार आहेत अहमदनगर मतदारसंघात शरद पवारांच्या राष्ट्रवादी काँग्रेसतर्फे निवडून आलेले निलेश लंके.

पारनेर येथील आमदार म्हणून याआधी निवडून आलेल्या लंके यांनी अहमदनगरचे विद्यमान खासदार डॉ सुजय विखे यांचा अत्यंत अटीतटीच्या लढाईत २९ हजार मतांनी पराभव केला आहे.

राज्यात मंत्री आणि अहमदनगर जिल्ह्यातील एक मोठे राजकीय प्रस्थ असलेल्या राधाकृष्ण विखे यांचे सुजय विखे हे चिरंजीव.

शिर्डी लोकसभा मतदारसंघ आता आरक्षित असल्याने विखे याचे घराणे आपल्याच बालेकिल्ल्यात विस्थापित झाले आहे.

काँग्रेसचे नेते म्हणून महाराष्ट्रात विरोधी पक्षनेते असलेल्या राधाकृष्ण विखे यांनी आपल्या मुलाला अहमदनगर लोकसभा मतदारसंघात 2019 साली काँग्रेसची उमेदवारी मिळावी यासाठी खूप प्रयत्न केले होते.

ते शक्य होईना तेव्हा अखेरीस ते सरळसरळ भाजपात सामिल झाले होते आणि मग भाजपच्या तिकिटावर अहमदनगरमधून डॉ सुजय विखे निवडून आले होते.

यावेळीसुद्धा सुजय विखे यांचा विजयाचा मार्ग खूप सुकर होता, मात्र अचानक निलेश लंके यांची एन्ट्री झाली.

अजित पवार राष्ट्रवादीचे पारनेरचे आमदार असलेल्या लंके यांना पक्षाची उमेदवारी मिळेना तेव्हा त्यांनी आमदारकीचा राजीनामा दिला आणि शरद पवार यांच्या राष्ट्रवादीची उमेदवारी मिळवली.

डिट्टो विखे कुटुंब स्टाईलने.

इतिहासाची पुनरावृत्ती या मतदारसंघात झाली होती.

निलेश लंके यांना फाडफाड इंग्रजी बोलता येत नाही अशी सुजय विखे यांनी टीका केली होते आणि हे वाक्य या निवडणुकीच्या आखाड्यात खूप गाजले.

फाडफाड इंग्रजी बोलू शकणाऱ्या डॉ सुजय विखे यांना अहमदनगर मतदारसंघाच्या शहरी भागांत मतांची मोठीं आघाडी मिळाली तर निलेश लंके यांना पारनेर, श्रीगोंदा, कर्जत अशा ग्रामीण भागांत मताधिक्य मिळाले.

लंके यांचा विजय आणि सुजय विखे यांचा पराभव हा राज्यातील भाजपला बसलेला सर्वात मोठा धक्का आहे.

याआधी १९९२च्या अहमदनगर लोकसभा निवडणुकीत डॉ सुजय विखे यांच्या आजोबांचा - अपक्ष बाळासाहेब विखे यांचा- काँग्रेसचे यशवंत गडाख यांव्याकडून पराभव झाला होता.

जायंट किलर लंके यांनी आता इंग्रजीचे धडे गिरवण्याचा स्तुत्य निर्णय घेतला आहे.

Camil Parkhe.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar completes 50 years of Parliamentary career

NCP chief Sharad Pawar completes 50 years of Parliamentary career

CAMIL PARKHE | Wednesday, 22 February 2017 AT 11:50 PM IST

    

NCP, Sharad Pawar, Parliamentary career

Pune: Former Union Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Chief Sharad Pawar, one of the tallest political figures in the state for the past few decades,  completed 50 years of his Parliamentary career on Wednesday, February 22.

Fifty years ago on this day, Pawar was elected as a member of the State Legislative Assembly from Baramati constituency. Since then, he has been a public representative for five consecutive decades, serving Maharashtra and also the nation in various important positions.

Pawar was appointed as minister of state for home at the age of 32 years in 1972 and appointed a cabinet minister two years later. He became Maharashtra’s chief minister at the age of 38 in 1978 and to this date, he continues to hold the record of being the youngest chief minister of Maharashtra.

He was sworn as the state chief minister four times (1978, 1988, 1990 and 1993). He has also served as the leader of the opposition in the State Assembly.  >>Contd on P2

And aslo servged as defence minister in the PV Narasimha Rao government and as agriculture minister in the two terms of the UPA government. He was recently chosen for the Padma Vibhushan award.

While continuing with his political career,  Pawar has also been associated with various other fields including the cooperative movement, an educational body like the Rayat Shikshan Sanstha and cricket.

No other person in the state has had a varied types of interest in different spheres, a fact which has been acknowledged even by his critics.

One of the senior most politicians in the country, Pawar has been praised for his administrative skills, an in-depth knowledge of the issues he deals with and friendship with leaders cutting across the political barriers.

In a comment posted on social media on Wednesday, the NCP chief has remarked: “I have completed 50 years of my parliamentary career today. It was on this day, that I was elected by the people of Baramati as a member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly with a thumping majority. Since then, I have got the opportunity to serve  uninterrupted as a member of the State Assembly, the Legislative Council, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. I am grateful to the people in this regard. In the past 50 years, I have experienced many ups and downs and have faced many challenges as well. But, because of the strong support of the common masses and colleagues, I was able to work in the public life. Henceforth too, I will keep working for the development of labour class, farmers, women, workers, those neglected and the new generation. I would prefer to be in their debts for the entire life.”

Marathi Sahitya Sammelan

An annual literary meet that had too much politics and little literature!

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Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Tuesday, 19 January 2016 AT 02:48 PM IST

http://www.sakaaltimes.com/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsId=5106399676290659258&SectionId=4861338933482912746&SectionName
=Blog&NewsTitle=An%20annual%20literary%20meet%20that%20had%20too%20much%20politics
%20and%20little%20literature

    

89th All-India Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, Camil Parkhe, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad, Marathi literary festival,

The 89th All-India Marathi Sahitya Sammelan which concluded in Pimpri Chinchwad on Monday truly has lived to the legacy and tradition of the nearly 125-year-old Marathi literary festival. Those people who have attended the earlier Marathi Sahitya Sammelans and who attended this Sammelan would vouch that this was the most expensive, most celebrated and most hyped literary meet. Justice M G Ranade, who had convened the first session of the Marathi Granthkar Sammelan in Pune in 1887, may have never imagined that the seed of the event he sowed would achieve such a remarkable height over a century later. But there were many controversies too and some feeling in the literary sphere that the whole event was too politicised!

Marathi Sahitya Sammelans, like the Diwali special of issues of Marathi periodicals, are unique not only among Indian languages but perhaps also all over the world. This is the only literary event which is being held on a regular basis for more than a century and is patronised by book lovers, littérateurs, publishers and all those associated with the books publishing industry. However, the downside was that including the Sammelan President’s speech to most events, everything revolved around politics and at many stages before the meet and during the three-day meet, it became an NCP versus BJP game! The whole literary meet had a super political undercurrent with literature and creativity taking a back-seat!

In the past, popular literary giants have been honoured with the coveted post of president of this literary festivals. They include Pu La Deshpande, Acharya Atre, Veer Savarkar and Shanta Shelke. Some of these Sahitya Sammelans like the one held at Karad during the Emergency period and presided over by firebrand author Durga Bhagwat, have turned out to be milestones in the struggle for freedom of expression in the country. That is why the post of the president of this literary festival has an aura and many writers and poets vie to win this honour.

The process for electing the president of the literary meet has however dissuaded the veteran littérateurs from seeking this post. The election process has always drawn criticism as less than a thousand registered persons are involved in the poll process which often denies the post to veteran littérateurs. There was open grumbling that not many people had heard of Shripal Sabnis until he was elected to preside over the Sammelan. In the game of numbers, veterans like poet BB Borkar had to face a humiliating defeat in elections and therefore many literary giants shun entering the poll arena.

Controversy is yet another invariable aspect of the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan. Soon after being elected as president of the literary meet, Shripal Sabnis lived up to this legacy with his comments on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Fortunately, much to the relief of the organisers D Y Patil University, the row over his remarks turned out to be a storm in a tea cup.

Visitors to the four-day literary festival thoroughly enjoyed the ambiance at the venue. The hosts had indeed worked hard to make this literary event a ‘celebration’. The huge statues of Sant Dnyaneshwar, Sant Tukaram and others created the desired atmosphere for a literary fest. The presence of youngsters at the literary festival was most striking and these also included students from various institutes of the D Y Patil University campus. The red carpets spread at the various pandals of the festivals, at the two sections of the books exhibition comprising hundreds of books stalls and also on the long passages leading in various directions also underlined that this was one of the most luxurious Marathi Sahitya Sammelans.

Most book stalls at the venue were crowded. The literary meet offers the Marathi book industry a golden opportunity to showcase its products and as usual, sales of crores of rupees were registered during the four-day meet. Most publishers this time were taken aback with the huge demand for some books and were required to get refills from their godowns in Pune on day-to-day basis. Last year, the book industry had to miss this opportunity when despite protests, the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan was organised at Ghuman in Punjab where there were hardly any takers for the Marathi books.

Notwithstanding the criticism, charges and counter-charges levelled before and during the literary meet, this Sahitya Sammelan will be remembered for a long time by those attending it. And as is the tradition, in future too there will be attempts to organise the Sammelan in a more lavish and impressive style. Readers too would not mind it as long as the literary fest also serves to help the interests of Marathi literature. The hope for the future is that the meet is less about politics and more about literature, language and creativity.

AAP Ki Dilli and aftermath

The AAP victory has created a political history in the whole country. The pollsters were off the mark when all of them predicted just a comfortable majority to the Aap Aadmi Party, forecasting over 20 seats for the BJP and almost writing off the Congress. The voters in Delhi have set off an avalanche. If 2014 Lok Sabha polls experienced a Modi tsunami, there is no word to describe AAP's victory in 67 of the total 70 assembly seats.

The debate on what exactly led to the AAP avalanche, Waterloo of the BJP and decimation of the Congress in the national capital will continue for next few weeks. The army of the Sangh Parivar, scores of Union ministers and nearly 150 MPs in the Delhi poll arena were outsmarted by the thousands of the AAP volunteers drawn from all over the country who had been tirelessly working in bylanes, slums and other areas of the walled city since a few months prior to the polls.

The poll verdict of the Delheites will indeed have a lasting impact on the national politics. Kiran Bedi who was 'paradropped' as the BJP's chief ministerial nominee failed to improve the BJP's sagging poll fortune. But when the party could just win three seats of the 70 seats, the blame has been fully shifted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah.

The Delhi poll debacle have left tremors in the BJP hierarchy as well as in the Congress camp. The second rung of party leaders in the BJP who had been totally sidelined for almost for a year in the process of decision making are now likely to be heard. The BJP was able to retain its core votes base but the AAP succeeded in attracting the votes shares of the Congress and other parties. This is a warning bells for all the traditional parties who have hitherto banked on castes, religion or region to win the votes. The AAP has indeed shattered all these barricades to win an unprecedented nearly 95 percent of the assembly seats. The Delhi success has now encouraged the AAP volunteers to undertake similar massive campaign in Mumbai and other metropolitan cities having polls in the next couple of years.

BJP's poll debacle has prompted its ally in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena, to take pot shots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi,  indicating the strained relationship in the saffron alliance government. Indeed there was always a tug of war even within the Congress-NCP government but it had become a matter of public concern only at the fag end of the third term of the government when NCP supremo Sharad Pawar charged that the state government was affected by a 'paralysis' of indecisiveness. Fireworks have began in the BJP-Shiv Sena government soon after completion of just 100 days in power.

If things are not sorted out by both parties well in time, the state may face fresh polls. Arvind Kejriwal succeeded in winning majority of seats in the assembly in the second attempt. Both BJP and Shiv Sena are keen on having their own government with a majority support in the state assembly and either of them may be tempted to follow Kejriwal's example to opt for the gamble and adventurism of fresh polls. If they have no such intentions, the two parties should bury the hatchets and work to fulfill the promise of clean governance and development.  

Antulay: Last Muslim CM in Maharashtra?

Antulay: Last Muslim CM in Maharashtra?

Reporters Name | CAMIL PARKHE | Monday, 8 December 2014 AT 08:08 PM IST

    

Blog, Camil Parkhe, Abdul Rehman Antulay, Maharashtra, obituary, Last Muslim CM

For many people in Maharashtra who are now in the late 30s or 40s, the name of Abdul Rehman Antulay may immediately remind the cement scandal to which he was allegedly linked with. Antulay had to relinquish the chief minister's post due to this scandal. Although the Supreme Court later acquitted him  of the charges, Antulay had to pay heavy political price for this scandal as he was moved away from Maharashtra and rehabilitated in national politics. Elected to the Rajya Sabha, he also held the union minister's post two terms.

Antulay was one of the few prominent Muslim faces having pan-Maharashtra appeal and popularity among cross sections of society. The then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi surprised the powerful Maratha lobby in Maharashtra by appointing him as the state chief minister in 1980. During his short stint as the chief minister, Antulay earned the image as a non-nonsense politician, a leader who could take fast decisions and who had total control over the bureaucracy, some of the traits which he shared with S B Chavan, another politician hand-picked by Indira Gandhi to lead Maharashtra. Having full command over the party organisation, Indira Gandhi then could afford to appoint a leader of her choice – and too belonging to a minority community-  to head Maharashtra government. Indira Gandhi had earlier also selected Abdul Ghafoor as the chief minister of Bihar in 1973.

Antulay shifted fom his Colaba (Raigad) Lok Sabha seat where he was defeated in 2004 to contest from Aurangabad – a seat having a sizable Muslim electorates. But his presence in the election arena had helped the rival parties to polarise votes and Antulay was defeated here too. After this, even the Congress and NCP have been wary of fielding a Muslim or other minor candidates as it now amounts to giving a cakewalk to rival parties, barring the minority-dominated seats like Malegaon and Bhiwandi.

With the demise of Antulay, Muslims in Maharashtra and to some extent in India, have lost a leader to whom they could relate to and bank on representing their interests.

Vasantaro Naik, a member of the Banjara tribe, was chief minister of Maharashtra for a record 11 years. But that was four decades back.  As the political things stand today, it is unlikely that a Muslim or any minority leader  will occupy the chief minister's seat in Maharashtra or any other state in the country in the near future. Presently, there is no minority leader belonging to any mainstream political party who can truly claim to be mass leader or at least a minority leader having well connect to his/ her community. This is bad for the secular fabric of the nation. In the absence of such leadership and political parties ignoring minorities due to vote bank politics constrains, communal forces may be able to create their base among these communities. It is in the interest of the nation that all mainstream political parties give equal representation to all sections of communities, be it in civic bodies, at state or national levels. Antulay should not be the last  Muslim or  minority leader to be the chief minister of  a state in the country. 

Maharashtra Voters perhaps may be the worst losers

Voters perhaps may be the worst losers

CAMIL PARKHE Sakal Times Blog

Wednesday, 22 October 2014 09:29 PM

The verdict of the multi-cornered Maharashtra state assembly polls has not been totally unexpected. The route of the ruling Congress-NCP group was clearly forecast after the Lok Sabha polls results. But  the state experienced many high intensity political tremors a fortnight before the voting days which have influenced the assembly poll results .

Both the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance and Congress-NCP front broke off, hoping to do better than its ally in the polls. It's interesting to see who have benefited the most by the mutually agreed separations. The assembly polls have thrown a hung assembly.  The BJP's gamble to go it alone in polls has succeeded but the voters have denied it clear majority, much to the chagrin of the Shiv Sena and also the NCP.

The Shiv Sena which hoped to retain its role of the elder brother has been left with less than half of the seats garnered by BJP. The Congress and NCP who were expected to face a total debacle in the Lok Sabha polls have surprisingly done much better, they together winning over 80 seats.

Those who left the sinking ships of the Congress, NCP and the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have won entry into the House, albeit with the lotus symbol and their number is over 20. Raj Thackeray-led MNS has turned out to be a pauper with a single seat. And so is the case with the much hyped smaller allies who after debates in full media glare finally decided to go with the BJP. 

It is a verdict delivered by the electorates. These voters perhaps may be the worst losers as they will now witness repeat of the one-upmanship experienced earlier during the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance and Congress-NCP front governments.  

Cong, NCP go aggressive in ZP, civic polls

Home  >>  Editor's Pick  >>  Detail News Sakal Times http://www.sakaaltimes.com/SakaalTimesBeta/20120131/4962113731651249476.htm
Cong, NCP go aggressive CAMIL PARKHE Tuesday, January 31, 2012 AT 10:58 PM (IST) Tags: Civic polls 2012,   Cong,   NCP The elections to zilla parishad, panchayat samitis and 10 municipal corporations in Maharashtra have will be yet another political battle fought by the five main parties in the state. The polls have come just a couple of months after the municipal councils polls, in which the Congress and the NCP had fared well. The battles-lines are expected to on the same lines as in the municipal polls. That is why the Congress and the NCP are in an aggressive mood while the opposition Shiv Sena and the BJP have been forced on the defensive.   The elections to 27 zilla parishads and 309 panchayat samitis will be held on February 7 and polls to 10 corporations, including Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and Aurangabad, on February 16. Civic elections are also due in Nagpur, Thane, Nashik, Amravati, Kolhapur and Akola. The main contestants are the two constituents of the Democratic Front, the Congress and the NCP; the saffron alliance of the Shiv Sena and the BJP, which has been reinforced this time by the Republican faction led by Ramdas Athavale; and the comparatively new entrant in the state politics, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena led by Raj Thackeray. All the parties are gearing up for the polls and finding ways to woo the voters.   The crucial polls are being held as the Congress-led ruling front is completing half of its third consecutive term. In such circumstances, the ruling combine often faces the heat of the anti-incumbency wave. But thanks to the acts of commissions and omissions by both the Congress-NCP government and the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance, the municipal council poll verdict indicated that the ruling front faces no such wave. In fact, because of some turbulence in its own camp, it is the saffron alliance which  has been forced to lick its own wounds, leaving it with little strength to attack the ruling front with some effectiveness. The only political party outside the ruling front thoroughly enjoying the present political atmosphere and ready to exploit it for its advantages is the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena. The local self-government poll will serve as a rehearsal for the state polls, scheduled two years later.    The panchayati raj and municipal council poll should have served as an ideal opportunity for the opposition to attack the ruling front on corruption scandals like the Adarsh housing complex in Mumbai and the nine-month imprisonment of Pune's suspended Congress MP, Suresh Kalmadi, in Tihar jail in the Commonwealth Games scam. But most opposition parties are busy setting their own house in order.   Senior BJP leader Gopinath Munde is the party's only mass leader in the state but he has been facing major setbacks in the past couple of years. He has little time to consolidate the party's base. He has been fighting a battle for survival in his own party with party president Nitin Gadkari. After threatening to quit the party and knocking at the door of other parties, Munde decided to stay put in the BJP but not without damaging his credentials. Now, the former deputy chief minister is facing a serious challenge on his home turf of Beed district from his nephew and MLC, Dhananjay Munde, who is openly hobnobbing with the  NCP. Gadkari and other Munde detractors are doing everything to marginalise Munde. So the BJP leaders have no time to train their guns on the ruling party or to give a fight in the panchayati and civic body polls. A wounded Munde is no position to play a vital role in galvanising the BJP and reviving its poll prospects. The  Shiv Sena is fighting a battle to retain its two-decade hold on power in Brihamaumbai Municipal Corporation. It faces a major threat from the combined forces of the Congress and the NCP. This is for the first time the two Congresses have come together in Mumbai civic elections. The presence of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena in the previous State Assembly polls had helped the Congress-NCP to defeat the saffron alliance in Mumbai and to return to power for the third consecutive term. The ruling front hopes that the Raj Thackeray-led party will play a vital role in dethroning the Shiv Sena. The revolt of the Shiv Sena's Thane MP Anand Paranjape -- the party's only victorious nominee in the Mumbai-Thane belt in the last Lok Sabha polls -- has dealt a severe jolt to the party. It will have repercussions on the civic poll in Thane.     So it is no wonder that the ruling Congress-NCP front hopes to romp home at the hustings without much difficulty. All the opposition parties will really have to really work overtime during the remaining few days to deny a cake-walk for the ruling front, although the ruling front has performed no great wonders to stake claims to uninterrupted power. The opposition has to expose the misdeeds of the government and prove its own credentials. The verdict of the electorate will show who among the ruling group and the opposition plays its role effectively.