Some netas more equal than others, discover Munde sisters

Children of the late BJP heavyweight Gopinath Munde —Pankaja Munde and her sister Pritam— have begun to discover that some netas are more equal than others. They are in the midst of a controversy with employees of a co-operative bank controlled by them having been caught carrying more than Rs 10 crore in the banned Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

The government has been swift in handing over the probe to the CBI and officials of the bank. Some prominent depositors, including a well-known oncologist, have been at the receiving end of the agency’s stick.

Like the Munde sisters, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is too spending sleepless nights. His associate Dhananjay Gawde was recently caught carrying more than Rs 1.1 crore in his car boot. Gawde, a corporator in the Vasai-Virar Municipal Council, is Ddeputy Leader of the Sena from Thane. More importantly, he is tasked with taking care of several candidates for the forthcoming elections to the Mumbai Municipal Corporation. It is common knowledge that Thackeray and the Mundes are at loggerheads with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, unlike state Co-operation Minister Subash Deshmukh who is said to be close to the CM. Deshmukh controls the Lokmangal group with interests in the co-operative sector, including banking.

A sum of nearly Rs 1 crore was found in a car belonging to the Lokmangal group controlled by Deshmukh. But the minister got away, claiming the money was meant for employees’ salaries. What is good for the goose is certainly not good for the gander, so it appears.

Pawar play over notebandi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes took NCP leader Sharad Pawar by surprise. Five days after the measure was announced, the PM was to inaugurate an international conference organised by the Vasantdata Sugar Institute, which is controlled by Pawar. Rather than risk Modi’s anger, Pawar played it cool and praised him for his ‘bold initiative’ to curb black money.

Pawar’s gambit worked and the PM showed up at the Maratha chieftain’s event. Both leaders praised each other. Modi even claimed to have taken lessons in administration from Pawar as Gujarat CM. Event over, it was back to realpolitik for the baron from Baramati. Pawar likened demonetisation to economic emergency. Modi is due to visit Baramati again in the new year. Will it be another volte-face by Pawar?

Tailpiece

The buzz in Maharashtra is that politicians of all hues opened their wallets containing the demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes ahead of the recently concluded local body elections in the state. The ruling BJP did well in these elections, causing the murmurs to grow louder, especially after a videotape, showing state BJP president Raosaheb Danve-Patil exhorting voters not to reject ‘Goddess Lakshmi’, appeared in the media.