ON FEBRUARY 8, social worker Mauris Noronha shot dead former Shiv Sena (UBT) corporator Abhishek Ghosalkar during a Facebook Live session. The murder, and the viral video of the crime, sent shockwaves across Maharashtra.
The opposition alleged that law and order in the state had collapsed. It flayed the state government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and demanded the resignation of Devendra Fadnavis, Shinde’s deputy and home minister. Fadnavis said Noronha had shot Ghosalkar, and then killed himself, because of personal rivalry. Noronha apparently believed that Ghosalkar was behind a rape case filed against him, and that he was trying to sabotage his political plans. “The opposition can demand anything,” said Fadnavis. “Even if a car runs over a dog tomorrow, they would ask the home minister to resign.”
Another violent incident had stunned the state just a few days before the Ghosalkar killing. BJP legislator Ganpat Gaikwad was arrested for allegedly firing at Mahesh Gaikwad, a former corporator of the Shinde-led Shiv Sena, at a police station in Thane district. The firing allegedly happened in the chamber of the police inspector at Ulhasnagar. Mahesh is in hospital fighting for his life.
Ganpat told journalists that he felt no remorse. “The chief minister has the state under goonda raj (mob rule),” he said. A three-time legislator whose own record is dubious, Gaikwad is a known rival of Shinde’s Sena in Thane district.
Political leaders courting criminals is an old phenomenon. In fact, the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance had first come to power in Maharashtra in 1995 after a sustained campaign against former chief minister Sharad Pawar’s alleged criminalisation of politics in the 1990s. So, what has changed in the past three decades?
Earlier, political leaders used to court history-sheeters away from the public eye. Now, they flaunt such connections. An example: Parth Pawar, son of Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, met Pune gangster Gajanan Marne in full view of the media in January. Marne is fighting cases of murder, attempt to murder, extortion and kidnapping. In 2021, after he was released from Taloja Jail in Navi Mumbai, he made news by going to his Pune home in a procession of 300 vehicles. The police booked Marne and supporters for assembling unlawfully and blocking the Mumbai-Pune expressway.
In 2022, Marne was arrested for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping and extortion of a share trader. He was charged under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), which made it difficult for him to obtain bail. When he was finally released from Yerwada Jail in April 2023, he again had a cavalcade of supporters accompanying him to Pune.
But, why did Parth Pawar feel the need to meet Marne?
Parth was meeting party workers in Kothrud assembly constituency in Pune, where Marne lives. Marne’s wife, Jayashree, is a former Maharashtra Navnirman Sena corporator who joined the NCP two years ago. Parth said he had gone to meet her.
Parth has been struggling to make an impact in politics. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he was defeated by Shrirang Barne of the Shiv Sena. NCP leader and Parth’s grand uncle Sharad Pawar was against Parth contesting the polls, but Ajit Pawar wanted his son to win the polls on an NCP ticket.
After the defeat, Parth has been struggling―both in politics and in the party. His cousin Rohit Pawar, on the other hand, made a grand debut in 2019 by winning the assembly polls from Karjat Jamkhed in Ahmednagar district. Rohit is the grandson of Sharad Pawar’s elder brother Appa Saheb Pawar. Apparently, Sharad Pawar wanted Parth, too, to first find a place in the assembly before entering national politics.
When the Maha Vikas Aghadi was in power, Parth had written to home minister Anil Deshmukh that the case involving the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput be handed over to the CBI―a demand that went against the coalition’s public stance. Parth had also praised the launch of the Ram Mandir construction in 2020―a move that Sharad Pawar described as “immature”.
With the Ajit Pawar-led NCP having become part of the BJP-led ruling coalition in Maharashtra, Parth’s political ambitions have once again come alive. He was in Pune district as part of his plan to actively help his father. The Marnes are known for their social work, and have considerable influence among poor and lower middle-class youth in Pune city. Marne himself is seen as a Robin Hood-like figure who can help political parties win votes.
Parth’s move, however, has not impressed his father. “Parth has done wrong,” said Ajit. “He should not have met Marne.”
The recent killing of BJP corporator Balu More, aka Mahendra More, in Jalgaon is also being described as a political murder. The police, however, attribute the crime to an old rivalry.
The deteriorating law and order demands the imposition of president’s rule in the state, say the opposition. After the Ghosalkar killing, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray held a news conference blaming Fadnavis for the state of affairs. “Maharashtra che gruha mantri manorugna aahet [Maharashtra’s home minister is a mental patient],” said Thackeray. The unusually harsh words had Fadnavis retorting that it was Uddhav, and not him, who needed urgent medical intervention. “Get well soon, Uddhav ji,” said Fadnavis.
The state of affairs in Maharashtra, however, has many people worried. “Lack of will in the police force to take stern action results from the bonhomie between criminal elements and the political leadership,” said an IPS officer. “I pity junior officers like sub inspectors. Why would they take action [against a criminal] if they feel that some day they would be elected and they would have to offer protection to him? Sometimes I feel that the situation in Bihar is better.”